Bosnia thieves use Nato disguise

Real S-For troops will no longer be seen in Bosnia

Thieves posing as Nato soldiers robbed a security van on the last day of the Nato peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.

The robbers, wearing insignia of Nato's Stabilisation Force, or S-For, set up a checkpoint on an isolated road between Knezevo and Banja Luka, say police.

The armed gang tied up the security guards and are said to have fled with about 1m euros in local money.

Nato ended its nine-year mission in Bosnia on Thursday, handing over to the European Union force known as Eufor.

A spokesman for the EU Police Mission in Bosnia-Hercegovina, which monitors and advises local police, said the incident was unusual for the country.

He said the local police report said between five and seven unidentified men, armed with rifles and wearing masks, had stopped the van on Wednesday afternoon.

The guards in the van thought the roadblock was genuine, given that the men were wearing S-For insignia and their Nissan van was similarly marked.

The security van is believed to have been carrying the large amount of cash from the Raiffeisen Bank in Sarajevo to the branch in Banja Luka.

When the alarm was raised, police set up checkpoints in the area and launched an investigation.