 In the immediate aftermath , Serbs and Montenegrins from the local area attacked villages , and Adriatic Command sent the 2nd Company of the 7th Battalion from Bileća to reinforce the Ustaše . After a brief clash near Korita , during which the Ustaše and gendarmerie lost one killed and several wounded , the rebels withdrew across the nearby border into Montenegro . The 2nd Company of the 7th Battalion spent the night in the village of Stepen before establishing itself as the Avtovac garrison the following day . Due to its exposure to fire from rebels overlooking their location , the gendarmes were unable to re @-@ occupy their post in Stepen , which meant that the Stepen – Korita road was no longer secure . On 8 June , the district office in Gacko reported to Adriatic Command that they had taken 200 Serbs as hostages and issued a proclamation to the population to cease fighting and surrender their weapons . As this proclamation met with no response , on 10 June the Ustaše Commissioner for Bosnia and Herzegovina , <unk> Francetić , had 19 hostages shot ( one escaped ) . On 12 June , the gendarmerie in Ravno shot four people on the orders of the Ustaše commissioner for Ljubinje . Such actions led to Serb peasants leaving their villages to seek safety in more remote areas , and Muslim villagers became increasingly nervous about their Serb neighbours . 
