the attack started on 25 may 1992 and ended on 27 may at 13:00 hrs. a military convoy comprising two columns approached kozarac, and its soldiers opened fire on the houses and checkpoints and, at the same time, shells were fired from the hills. the shooting was aimed at people fleeing from the area. the shelling was intense and unrelenting. over 5,000 serb soldiers and combatants participated in the attack. serb forces included the 343rd motorised brigade (an enlarged motorized battalion) supported by two 105 mm howitzer batteries and one m-84 tank squadron. after the shelling, serb forces shot people in their homes and that those who surrendered were taken to a soccer stadium of kozarac where some men were randomly shot. after the people had been killed or fled their homes, the soldiers set fire to the houses. there was extensive destruction of property in kozarac as a result of the attack. the houses had been not only destroyed, but leveled to the ground using heavy machinery. the medical centre in kozarac was damaged during the attack. the attack continued until may 26, 1992 when it was agreed that the people should leave the territory of kozarac. a large number of people in kozarac surrendered that day. the serb authorities explained that all those who wished to surrender should form a convoy and that a ceasefire would be in effect during this period. it was later learned that when the convoy, which left that day, reached the banja luka-prijedor road the women and men were separated. the women were taken to trnopolje and the men to omarska and keraterm concentration camps, which shocked the world when bbc reporters discovered them. a large number of women and children arrived in prijedor on the day of the attack. the prijedor intervention platoon, led by dado mrđa, zoran babić and others intervened and began to mistreat the women and children. some time later in that day, buses arrived, and they ordered women and children to board these buses for trnopolje camp.