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. [...] At least nine men were allegedly killed by security forces within a few kilometers of the Inata gold mine on January 1, 2019. Five witnesses described the operation during which five artisanal gold miners were gunned down near the Kousoumbaka artisanal site and another four men near a well in Inata village. One of the witnesses with knowledge of the operation said after perpetrating the killings, some of the security force members passed by and spent several hours in a small gendarme post near the town of Inata. Witnesses who buried the victims, aged 20-50 years-old, said several men appeared to have been shot through the mouth. A 28-year-old artisanal gold miner said: I’d just started digging when seven motorcycles approached. Without asking a question, they jumped off and started shooting. We dove into the pits. The gunfire was deafening. It lasted for 15 minutes—tat, tat, tat—muffled, like they were firing into the pits. After the motorcycles left, I stuck my head out and saw five men lying dead and dying. On their sides and back, some hit on their eyes, and chests. One was shot through his hand like he was trying to protect himself. We were only working. Why did they do this? Another witness described seeing men in uniform shoot four men near the Inata well, “People started taking out their ID’s, but the soldiers shot them anyway. I ran to hide, later seeing a few had been shot through the mouth.” Another witness said, “my boss, Boura, was on his back, a bullet hole took off the entire side of his face. I cried seeing this." [...] 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." ^[+]