Stung by battlefield losses and a new refugee crisis, the Bosnian Serb leader fired four generals Monday in a bid to assign blame and sustain his grip on power.

Bosnian Serb officials meeting in Banja Luka, their northern stronghold, also appealed to President Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia for protection against further losses.

The two moves were the latest signs of how badly rebel Serbs, who have dominated most of Bosnia’s 3-1/2-year-old war, have been unsettled by recent defeats and political rifts.