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00:00 It was market day in Mora, a remote town in central Mali.
00:04 Witnesses say Malian troops, backed by white men in fatigues, descended in helicopters
00:09 and opened fire on residents.
00:12 This market stall owner was arrested and taken to a riverbank where thousands of men sat
00:17 with their hands tied.
00:18 "They took 15 to 20 people.
00:22 They lined them up about 100 meters from us.
00:26 They made them kneel down and they shot them.
00:29 It's distressing, it's unimaginable, it's hard to speak about it.
00:34 I thank God I got out of it.
00:36 A lot of my friends were killed there."
00:39 Now the United Nations says hundreds of people were killed in Mora starting on March 27th,
00:45 2022.
00:46 After a months-long investigation, the UN released its findings on Friday.
00:52 "Our report concluded that there are strong indications that more than 500 people were
00:57 killed.
01:00 The vast majority executed by Malian troops and foreign military personnel during a five-day
01:05 military operation in March 2022."
01:09 The report does not say what nationality the foreign fighters were.
01:13 However, it cites Malian officials' statements on Russian so-called "instructors" helping
01:18 in the 10-year conflict with Islamist groups.
01:22 Turkey's army has called the incident an "anti-jihadist operation," but victims included
01:28 some 20 women and seven children.
01:31 The report includes images of where mass graves are located.
01:35 The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called the findings "extremely disturbing"
01:40 and said these are war crimes that could potentially amount to crimes against humanity.