Bukovica is a rural area of Pljevlja municipality located in northern Montenegro, and is part of the Sandžak region.

[3] Political representatives of the Muslim population requested that the territory of Sandžak should be annexed by the Independent State of Croatia.

[6] According to Chetnik sources, Muslims were preparing to expel Serbs who lived on the right bank of Lim, Pljevlja, Čajniče, and Foča.

[7] On 3 January 1943 Draža Mihailović issued an order for the "cleansing of Ustaše-Muslim organizations" from Čajniče region with the explanation that Ustaše and Sandžak Muslim militia forces had continued to attack and kill Serb civilians, rob Serb-populated villages and rape women and girls.

Stating that the total number of their armed forces was 2,500,[8] Mihailović issued his order to: On 5 January 1943 Montenegrin Chetniks, commanded by Pavle Đurišić, attacked 33 villages predominantly populated with Muslims in the region of Lower Bihor.

According to some sources, Italians wanted to reward Chetniks because they had agreed to participate in the Case White operation against Communists.

[16] An incomplete list of 576 victims of the Chetnik attack on Bukovica municipality was published in Prilog u krvi Pljevlja 1941–45.godine (1969) by the SUBNOR (Union of Veterans of the People's Liberation War).

[19][clarification needed] The Chetniks killed Pavle Đurković, a notable person from Bukovica, because he was opposed to the massacre of Muslims.

Mentasti asserted that Italian forces were not responsible for the Bukovica massacre, citing the centuries-long conflict between Orthodox Christians and Muslims.

In turn, one million Serbs murdered mostly by Muslims on the territory of the Independent State of Croatia which included Bosnia and Hercegovina.