(PALE) - EU and NATO forces in Bosnia Thursday raided the homes of indicted war crimes fugitive Radovan Karadzic's wife, daughter and aide, who are suspected of helping him remain on the run.

The EU force (EUFOR) in Bosnia conducted searches in the early morning at three locations in Pale, just outside Sarajevo, EUFOR spokesman Phillip Treloar told AFP.

"The operation is completed. We have seized items of interest which will be further examined," he said without elaborating.

The homes belong to the elusive wartime Bosnian Serb leader's wife Ljiljana Zelen-Karadzic, their daughter Sonja Karadzic Jovicevic and Smiljka Popov, an alleged Karadzic aide.

The aim of the operation, requested by The Hague-based war crimes tribunal, was to gather information on Karadzic's whereabouts.

Pale was the Bosnian Serb stronghold during the 1992-1995 war that claimed at least 100,000 lives.

Family members of the Bosnian Serb wartime political leader were questioned.

"We are putting pressure on networks believed to be involved in protecting war crimes suspects," Treloar said.

Up to 30 masked Italian carabiniers serving with EUFOR took part in the search. They blocked the street where the houses of Zelen-Karadzic and Popov are located, according to an AFP correspondent on the scene.

"I have absolutely no relation with Karadzic," Popov, an accountant, told journalists.

"They took my phones, hard discs from my PCs and all of the clients' files, so I cannot work any more," she fumed.

Karadzic and his former military chief, Ratko Mladic, have been on the run from the UN war crimes tribunal for more than 12 years since being charged with war crimes committed during the Bosnian 1992-95 conflict.

The pair also face a charge of genocide related to the July 1995 massacre of around 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica, the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.

Karadzic is thought to be hiding in the Serb-controlled part of Bosnia, or in a remote part of neighbouring Montenegro, where he spent his childhood. Mladic is believed to be hiding in Serbia.

EUFOR and NATO regularly conduct raids on the homes of Karadzic's family or suspected aides in attempts to establish his whereabouts.

The peacekeepers have made several attempts to arrest Karadzic but all ended in failure as he has always managed to escape.

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