Two Afghani men, suspected of being members of an organised criminal gang that extorted money from illegal migrants, committed robberies and rapes and illegally possessed arms, were arrested by Bosnia and Herzegovina's law enforcement authorities, the local police in Bihac said on Wednesday.

Una-Sana Canton has seen a rise in illegal migrations recently. On top of that, a criminal gang of irregular migrants appeared in the area and became notorious for harassing other illegal migrants.

The spokesman for the local police, Ale Siljdedic, said today that the police had searched for the two Afghan citizens and other members of the gang for some time.

The mayor of the Croatian town of Vojnic near the Croatia-Bosnia border, Nebojsa Andric, recently criticised the Croatian government over the migrant crisis and illegal entries by irregular migrants from BiH to Croatia.

Mayor Andric also demanded the arrival of soldiers at the border, citing claims by a police official in BiH's Una-Sana Canton that a group of Afghan migrants, armed with firearms, has been active in the border area and that it extorts money from the other migrants and steals their belongings and then hides from Bosnia's police in Croatia's territory.

We demand the immediate closure of the border and the restoration of safety and security in our town, said Andric last Saturday, adding that in light of reports of shooting incidents at the border and the above-mentioned armed group, local residents did not feel safe.