SARAJEVO, Dec 2: Thieves masquerading as Nato soldiers stole a million euros ($1.3 million) from a Bosnian security van on the last day of the alliance's peace mission in the country on Wednesday.

The robbers, wearing the insignia of Nato's outgoing Stabilization Force (SFOR), set up a checkpoint on a highway in north-western Bosnia and stopped an armoured van hauling cash for the Raiffeisen Bank.

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 hand over of the peacekeeping mission to a new European Union force. -Reuters