Ratko Mladic, ex-Bosnian Serb warlord who oversaw atrocities, dies aged 84

The UN tribunal for war crimes committed during the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s sentenced Mladic, front, to life in prison in 2017 (Radivoje Pavicic/AP)

Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general who oversaw atrocities in Bosnia in the 1990s, has died in prison at age 84, Serbian state RTS television and the official Bosnian Serb television have reported.

The reports said that Mladic died in a UN prison hospital in The Hague, in the Netherlands.

A family member of Mladic confirmed the reports for the Associated Press (AP) and said Mladic’s son, Darko Mladic, was on his way to The Hague.

UN court officials told the AP in a statement that they could not immediately confirm Mladic’s death.

The UN tribunal for war crimes committed during the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s sentenced Mladic to life in prison in 2017 in what was considered a key step towards bringing justice to the victims. He had been in custody since 2011 after many years on the run.

The former communist officer-turned nationalist warlord, was one of the most notorious figures of the conflict that left more than 100,000 people dead and more than one million homeless.

He commanded his troops to “scorch the brains” of the Bosnian Muslims and boasted of being a “Serbian god”.

When the ethnic war in Bosnia started in 1992, Mladic became the commander of the Bosnian Serb troops and took control of large swaths of the country to form a Serb mini-state.

Serbs under Mladic’s control laid siege to the capital, Sarajevo, and other cities and villages, established camps for detained non-Serb civilians and enemy soldiers, and systematically killed prisoners.