NATO peacekeeping forces blocked some 30 buses full of hard-line Serbs heading for a rally to challenge Western-backed President Biljana Plavsic on Sept. 9. As forces loyal to indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic tried to stage protests against Plavsic in the northern stronghold of Banja Luka, sources in the police force said two of their officers were fired upon in the early morning hours of Sept. 9.
British troops who stopped the buses from entering Banja Luka were pelted with stones, and peacekeeping officials described the situation as tense.