SREBRENICA, Bosnia-Herzegovina: In a first for Serbia, police on Wednesday arrested eight men accused of taking part in killing more than 1,000 Bosnian Muslims in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, The Associated Press has learned.

The move could be a significant milestone toward healing the wounds of Europe’s worst slaughter of civilians since World War II.

Chief Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic told the AP that all those arrested “are former members of a special brigade of the Bosnian Serb police.”

The massacre took place at a warehouse on the outskirts of Srebrenica, a team of Serbian and Bosnian prosecutors told the AP. Altogether, more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed in the eastern Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica by the Serbs in 1995 — the only atrocity in Europe to be labeled genocide by the United Nations since World War II.

Serbian prosecutors initially arrested seven suspects in pre-dawn raids Wednesday at different locations in Serbia, then caught the eighth suspect later after an hours-long manhunt. The prosecutors also said they are trying to locate more suspects who may be hiding in Bosnia.

The biggest arrest in the sweep was Nedeljko Milidragovic, the commander dubbed “Nedjo the Butcher,” who went on to become a successful businessman in Serbia, the AP has learned.