Simultaneously , a multi-side civil war was waged between the Yugoslav communist Partisans , the Serbian royalist Chetniks , the Croatian fascist Ustashe and Home Guard , Serbian Volunteer Corps and State Guard , as well as Slovene Home Guard troops .

However , after 1941 , Chetniks extensively and systematically collaborated Collaboration with the Italian occupation forces Military_operation until the Italian capitulation , and thereon also with German and Ustashe forces Military_operation .

The Chetniks ( mostly Serbs , but also Montenegrins and others ) pursued genocide against Muslims , Croats and Pro-Partisan Serbs , and the Italian occupation authorities pursued violence Violence and ethnic cleansing ( Italianization ) against Slovenes and Croats .

The killing Killing was committed Commitment 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 led by Željko Ražnatović ( aka Arkan ) .

In July 1944 , the Office of Strategic Services ( OSS ) drew Motion up plans to send Sending a team to Chetniks led by General Draža Mihailović in the German-occupied Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia for the purpose of evacuating Removing Allied airmen shot down over that area .

The Chetniks attacked Attack , led by Lieutenant Colonel Veselin Misita , who was killed Killing during the assault Attack .

Chetniks under the command Control of Dobroslav Jevđević and Petar Baćović then massacred Killing between 543 and 2,500 Croats and Muslims , and destroyed Destroying numerous villages in the area .

Following protests Response from both the Italians and the Croatian authorities , the Chetniks were discharged or relocated Removing .

In late August some Chetniks joined Becoming_a_member the uprising and liberated Loznica .

Partisans and Chetniks captured Conquering towns that weak German garrisons had abandoned .

Rebels shared power on the liberated territory ; the center of the Partisan liberated territory was in Užice , and Chetniks had their headquarters on Ravna Gora .

Meanwhile , the Chetniks became Becoming even more reluctant to fight against Germans , and engaged Participation in anti-Partisan operations and open collaboration .

The insurgents in the area of operations included Cause_to_be_included some groups of the communist-led Partisans and some of Serb–chauvinist Chetniks .

These included Cause_to_be_included the communist-led Yugoslav Partisans and Serb nationalist Chetniks .

Operation Trio coincided with and contributed Giving to the polarisation of the almost exclusively Serb rebels in eastern Bosnia into two groups : the Serb-chauvinist Chetniks and the multi-ethnic and communist-led Partisans .

Violent coups occurred Presence against the communist leadership of all but one of the Partisan detachments in eastern Bosnia , and these detachments effectively defected Escaping to the Chetniks .

After the offensive commenced Process_start on 20 September 1941 , the Partisans initially received Receiving assistance from local Chetnik formations in opposing Agree_or_refuse_to_act the Germans , but after weeks of disagreement Quarreling and low-level conflict Hostile_encounter between the two insurgent factions about how the resistance should proceed , the Chetniks launched an attack Attack on the Partisans in the towns of Užice and Požega on November 1 which resulted in the Chetniks being repulsed Defending .

After the offensive commenced Process_start on 20 September 1941 , the Partisans initially received Receiving assistance from local Chetnik formations in opposing Agree_or_refuse_to_act the Germans , but after weeks of disagreement Quarreling and low-level conflict Hostile_encounter between the two insurgent factions about how the resistance should proceed , the Chetniks launched an attack Attack on the Partisans in the towns of Užice and Požega on November 1 which resulted in the Chetniks being repulsed Defending .

The uprising Change_of_leadership was started Process_start by the local population as a response to persecutions of Serbs by the Ustaše and was led by Chetniks and Yugoslav Partisans .

A great loss for the Partisans was the death Death of their capable and distinguished commander , Mladen Stojanović , known as `` Komandant Mladen '' , who was killed in March 1942 by the Chetniks under Rade Radić .

The Germans engaged 15,000 soldiers , the Independent State of Croatia about 21,000 soldiers , the Chetniks about 2,000 soldiers , and the Hungarians participated with 5 monitor ships .

The ground forces included Cause_to_be_included Home Guard forces of the Independent State of Croatia along with collaborationist Chetniks .