The UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague has increased prison sentences on two top former Serbian security officials.

Jovica Stanišic and Franko Simatovic were convicted of training death squads accused of ethnic cleansing during the break-up of Yugoslavia.

They will serve 15 years instead of the 12 they were originally given in 2021.

The court's final verdict on the former Yugoslavia is also the first to prove a direct link between the Serbian state and a campaign of ethnic cleansing.

Mr Stanisic, a former head of Serbia's State Security Service, and his deputy, Franko Simatovic, a senior intelligence operative, were key allies of Serbia's late ex-President Slobodan Milosevic.

The court found the spymasters guilty of establishing training camps and deploying infamous death squads, the paramilitary units called the Red Berets.

drop the phrase "ethnic cleansing". Call it what it is: mass murder.