Bentalha Massacre - Massacre

Massacre

On September 22, at 11:30 pm, explosions rocked the Hai el-Djilali neighborhood on the southwest side of Bentalha, and attackers began pouring in from the orange groves to the neighborhood's southeast. They began methodically going from house to house and slaughtering every man, woman, and child they found within. Screams and alarms filled the air as a helicopter circled overhead. The attackers were armed with machine guns, hunting rifles, and machetes; some, according to Nesroullah Yous (see below), were dressed in dark combats, some in the Islamists' trademark kachabia, with balaclavas and beards. They recognized some of the locals, calling them by name. They proceeded, dashing babies into walls, cutting off limbs, cutting throats, raping and then killing women.

Meanwhile, according to Amnesty International, "Survivors say that as the massacre took place, armed forces units with armoured vehicles were stationed outside the village and stopped some of those trying to flee from getting out of the village." This account is corroborated by Yacine, a survivor interviewed by the BBC - who says that "at midnight... army vehicles appeared near the scene, but the soldiers did not intervene" as well as by Nesroullah Yous, who adds that they even stopped locals outside the quarter from coming to their aid. The killers continued proceeding through Hai el-Djilali from house to house until about 5 am, when they departed unmolested.