The killings took place around the central town of Vitez in December 1993 and were among the worst atrocities committed against Bosnian Croats during the country's war.

In total, 64 people, including women, the elderly and wounded soldiers who had surrendered, were eventually killed as a result of an attack on three Bosnian Croat villages around Vitez.

Almir Sarajalic, 55, a member of a brigade of the Bosnian army, which was mainly made up of local Muslims, was "found guilty ... of having killed at least 12 HVO soldiers (Bosnian Croat forces) who had previously surrendered and were disarmed", said a court statement.

The victims included wounded soldiers, including one who was unable to move, it added.

Seven other defendants, including a former commander of the mountain brigade, were acquitted due to lack of evidence, the court said.

The killings were carried out during the Bosnian army attack on three villages near Vitez populated by ethnic Croats -- Krizancevo Selo, Safradin and Dubravice.

During the operation, the army was backed by members of a mujahedeen unit, composed of foreign fighters who fought alongside Bosnian Muslims during the 1992-1995 war.

Some 34 people -- women, the elderly and prisoners of war -- were killed during the attack itself.

Thirty other soldiers were taken away to a mujahedeen camp and were killed later, according to the prosecutors.

The killings came eight months after Bosnian Croat forces killed 116 Muslim civilians in the village of Ahmici, in the same region.

Although allies against ethnic Serbs during most of the war, ethnic Croats and Muslims also fought against each other for 11 months in 1993 and 1994.

The Bosnian war claimed nearly 100,000 lives.