 On 24 April , the NDH created five military command areas , including Bosnia Command and Adriatic Command , both of which were initially headquartered in Sarajevo . Each of the five military commands included several district commands . Adriatic Command included the districts of <unk> and <unk> in the <unk> hinterland , and Mostar and Trebinje in eastern Herzegovina . The NDH began to <unk> soldiers for the Home Guard , with six battalions identified to join Adriatic Command . The battalions were mobilised from areas outside of eastern Herzegovina , and were to be ready by 20 May . The aggressive actions of the Ustaše fifth column during the Axis invasion made Serb civilian leaders in eastern Herzegovina <unk> about the NDH , and they attempted to obtain Italian protection , and urged the Italians to annex eastern Herzegovina to the neighboring Italian @-@ occupied territory of Montenegro . A <unk> " Interim Advisory Committee " of Montenegrin separatists was advocating the establishment of an " independent " Montenegrin state , and a similar committee of separatist Serbs was formed in eastern Herzegovina . A delegation from that committee arrived in <unk> in Montenegro on 6 May to ask for Italian protection . Similarly , a delegation of Muslims from eastern Herzegovina travelled to Sarajevo , the historic Bosnian capital , to urge the NDH authorities to link eastern Herzegovina to that city . 
