This was felt by Bulgaria as a heavy blow, since it was now being forced to return to Serbia, Greece and Romania territories it had briefly occupied during the war, and to pay reparations to those countries.

The Association against Bulgarian Bandits was set up in 1922 by former Chetniks to provide resistance to the IMRO and to IWORO militants in the areas of Vardar Macedonia and the Western Outlands, with Kosta Pećanac as a leading figure.

[2] Between 1923 and 1924, during the apogee of interwar military activity, a total of 53 armed bands operated in the region of Yugoslav (Vardar) Macedonia, according to IMRO statistics.

In March 1923, Stamboliyski signed the Treaty of Niš with the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and undertook to suppress the operations conducted from Bulgarian territory by the IMRO and the IWORO.

Serbian Prime Minister Ljubomir Davidović openly declared his opposition to this, but Žika Lazić, who coordinated the work of the guerrillas, claimed not to have found a better mechanism for the mutual annihilation of current and former Bulgarian Komitadjis.