Police in Bosnia-Herzegovina say they have launched a nationwide manhunt for a suspect in the killings of two people that have caused widespread panic.
Authorities also called on the public to report any sightings of the suspect, 42-year-old Edin Gacic, who police say is armed and dangerous.
Gacic is suspected of the murder last week of a grocery-store owner near the town of Konjic, southwest of the capital, Sarajevo, and of shooting to death a police officer on February 9 in Suhodol, a village south of the capital. Investigators haven't established a motive.
Gacic was released from prison in 2017 after serving two-thirds of a 20-year term for murder. His victims were his mother and a man who served with a battalion of Muslim volunteers during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia.
Local media have reported that Gacic also served in the unit, which fought alongside Bosnian Army soldiers under the country's wartime Muslim-led government. He is also thought to be armed with a gun and 30 rounds of ammunition taken from the police officer he killed in Suhodol.
A total of 1,200 police officers have been deployed for the manhunt and they would ask the army to help, if necessary, authorities say. Heavy snow made the search in a mountainous region more difficult.
