Make-believe NATO soldiers rob security van

[Champ]

Thieves masquerading as NATO soldiers have stolen a million euros ($US1.3 million) from a Bosnian security van on the last day of the alliance's peace mission in the country.

The robbers, wearing the insignia of NATO's outgoing Stabilisation Force (SFOR), set up a check point on a highway in north-western Bosnia and stopped an armoured van hauling cash for the Raiffeisen Bank, the daily Nezavisne Novine reported.

The gang of five handcuffed security guards escorting the cash and left them in the back of the van, the newspaper added.

The robbery was staged on the eve of NATO's handover of the nine-year-old peacekeeping mission to a new European Union Force, (EUFOR).

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1256934.htm