According to Human Rights Watch: "In the other incidents documented by Human Rights Watch, up to nine men were shot on the spot or found dead hours after being detained at artisanal gold mining sites, in their homes and villages, during celebrations, ceremonies, at watering holes, or at checkpoints. In some of these operations, the men were detained after their homes or villages had been searched. Two witnesses who had attended a ceremony in Palal Sambo for two men who had just returned from pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia described the detention of the pilgrims and three others in mid-September [2018]. The bodies of the men, three of whom were brothers and all of whom were over 50 years old, were found the next day. One witness said: Around 11 a.m. we had a benediction for the pilgrims, as is our custom. Around 1 p.m. the soldiers came on six motorcycles. We think it was gendarmes because months before, they had detained a neighbor over a land conflict, and he told me he recognized one of them. They fired in the air, ordering us to sit down. The soldiers called their names, ordering them to come out.” “Moussa Dicko, Abaye Dicko.” They searched the homes of the Al Hadjis; they didn’t find weapons but took several phones, and weirdly, didn’t ask them any questions. Then they called the village chief, Michael Dicko, then Oumerou Dicko, then Issa Dicko and ordered them onto the back of the motorcycles at gunpoint. They hardly spoke, except one of them who said, “We have enough bullets to kill all of you, but Ouagadougou said we should only come for five of you.” The second witness helped bury the men. “The next day, I got a phone call saying their bodies had been found about 25 kilometers away, between the villages of Taouremba and Lahorde, south of the crossroads. We followed the tire tracks a short distance off the road; we found our brothers, riddled with bullets. I saw scores of bullet casings." [...] Witnesses to all but one of the incidents described above said the alleged perpetrators were dressed in dark yellow and brown camouflage uniforms which, as noted, is worn by members of both the gendarmerie and army. “It can be confusing; the gendarmerie and the army use the same uniform in some theaters of operation,” one security force officer noted." However, on the basis of interviews with the witnesses, security sources, and community leaders representing the major ethnic groups present in Soum Province, Human Rights Watch believes the majority of incidents described above were perpetrated by a detachment of gendarmes who, in August 2018, had been deployed to the town of Arbinda to respond to the growing number of armed Islamist attacks, including many of those which targeted civilians and are described above." ^[+]