NATO force discovers illegal military training camp in Bosnia

MOSTAR, Bosnia-Hercegovina (AFP) Jul 01, 2003
Troops from the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Bosnia said Tuesday they have discovered an illegal military training camp in the center of the divided Balkan republic and seized a large quantity of military equipment.

The Stabilization Force (SFOR) "discovered and confiscated a large quantity of ammunition, military uniforms, targets with holes, field telephones and other military equipment", the peacekeepers said in a statement.

"This finding indicates that some illegal combat trainings were taking place in the region."

The camp is located near Jablanica and Prozor, roughly 100 kilometers (some 50 miles) west of Sarajevo, inside the Muslim-Croat Federation -- one of the two semi-autonomous entities that makes up Bosnia. The other is Republika Srpska, the majority ethnic Serb entity.

SFOR said the operation took place over several days and was completed on Monday, but gave no further details.

The international force has regularly confiscated weapons in Bosnia, which many civilians continue to carry more than seven years after the end of the 1992-1995 war.

SFOR soldiers discovered at the end of May more than three tons of illegal arms at a car dump in the Muslim-dominated part of the southern town of Mostar.

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