In September 1991 , Bosnian Serbs proclaimed a Serbian Autonomous Oblast with Bijeljina as its capital . In March 1992 , the Bosnian referendum on independence was passed with overwhelming support from Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats . Local Bosniak Patriotic League had been established in response to the Bosnian Serb proclamation and started the clashes . On 1 – 2 April , the SDG and the JNA overtook Bijeljina with little resistance ; A massacre was carried out and involved the killing of between 48 and 78 civilians by Serb paramilitary groups . The majority of those killed were Bosniaks ( or Bosnian Muslims ) . The dead included members of other ethnicities , such as Serbs deemed unloyal by the local authorities . The killing was committed by a local paramilitary group known as Mirko 's Chetniks and by the Serb Volunteer Guard ( SDG , also known as Arkan 's Tigers ) , a Serbia-based paramilitary group under the command of the Yugoslav People 's Army ( JNA )
massacre
Bijeljina massacre
Bijeljina