RUSSIAN MERCENARIES ACCUSED OF ATROCITIES, INCLUDING MURDERING CHILDREN, IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

'It was our children they killed... 

(CNN) - (CNN) -- Fatouma was at home with her children in the town of Bambari when the firing began, on the afternoon of February 15.

Terrified, she gathered them up and fled to the nearby mosque, thinking it would

be a safe refuge in the Central African

Republic (CAR) market town.

But instead of findil sanctuary within

its wails, she and dozens of others -- men, women and children became targets. Both her children were shot but survived. At least a dozen people didn't

"It was the Russians and the FACA [the

CAR army]." Fatouma said. Russian mercenaries, supported by at

least one combat helicopter, attacked

the neighborhood as they hunted

for rebels known as the Selska. 

But according to multiple witnesses, they

opened fire indiscriminately against

civilians, many of them hiding at the al

Taqwa mosque.

"There was not a single Seleka element

found in the mosque," Fatouma said. "It

was just the civilian population that they

killed. We didn't even see a dead Seleka

body on the ground, it was our children

they killed."

CNN has changed names of

witnesses and victims to protect them from possible retribution.

Other local sources say there may have

been two Seleka taking refuge in the

mosque, but they were unarmed.

Bulot holes are seen inside the al Taqwa mosque

in Bambari Central African Republic in a photo

taken in May 2021 CNN

The incident in Bambari is one of dozens

investigated by CNN and The Sentry that show a wide range of human rights abuses by Russian mercenaries deployed to CAR

The Sentry is an independent investigative group co-founded by George Clooney and John Prendergast that follows the money connected to mass atrocities.

Despite a pervasive climate of fear,

dozens of people in the Central African

Republic have spoken of summary

killings, instances of rape and torture,

and indiscriminate attacks on civilians

including the burning of homes.

CNN and The Sentry have spoken with

multiple witnesses to events in Bambari

that aftemoon. According to some,

several civilians were shot in cold blood

when the Russians and local troops

ordered people to leave the mosque late

that afternoon.

One 20-year-old man, Abdoulaye, told

CNN that he came out with several others, hands in their They were searched but then Russians and FACA started shooting

"We were five meters from them when they opened fire," he said in an almost matter of fact way using his hands to show what happened. "Four people were killed, another escaped over a wall"

A bullet struck Abdoulaye in the lower

leg as he ran. He hid for nearly 10 hours

because access to local hospital

had been blocked by the FACA and later

had to have his leg amputated below

the knee

Others told CNN that they were fired on by Russian helicopters that afternoon. CNN has confirmed that several Russian combat helicopters were shipped to CAR earlier this year,

The total number killed in and around the mosque that Fouary afternoon is unknown; but from the accounts gathered by CNN it was somewhere between a dozen and 20. It was far from an isolated incident,