(SARAJEVO) - European Union peacekeepers in Bosnia on Tuesday raided the home of the wife of top war crimes fugitive Radovan Karadzic in his former stronghold town of Pale.

The operation by the EU Force (EUFOR) was conducted at Ljiljana Zelen-Karadzic's home at dawn "with the aim of establishing what links and support the Karadzic family has" with him, an EUFOR statement said.

The operation was requested by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which has been seeking the elusive fomer Bosnian Serb political leader since 1995.

Bosnian peacekeepers often conduct search operations at the homes of the the Karadzic family in Pale, some 20 kilometres (13 miles) east of Sarajevo, to put pressure on networks that have helped him to evade justice.

Karadzic and his former military commander Ratko Mladic have been on the run from the ICTY for 13 years after they were charged with war crimes committed during Bosnia's 1992-1995 war.

The pair also face a genocide charge related to the 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 Bosnia's Serb-run half or in neighbouring Montenegro, while Mladic is believed to be in Serbia.

Text and Picture Copyright 2008 AFP. All other Copyright 2008 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.