84. It has been determined that the Atlacatl BIRI commander was in charge of the participating units, while the commander of the Third Brigade was in charge of the operation. 80 Also, both the Truth Commission and the investigations of Tutela Legal del Arzobispado indicate the participation of between 1,000 to 2,000 military personnel in the operation, and also identified the names of those responsible for it.81 85. The operation began with aerial and artillery bombardments on the village of El Mozote and the canton of La Joya (infra paras. 89 and 99). Also, as acknowledged by the State, Salvadoran Air Force helicopters transported members of the Atlacatl BIRI to the town of Perquín, from where they began to deploy by land. Other companies entered the area by land from San Francisco Gotera.82 Among other places, the operation covered the villages of El Mozote, Ranchería, Los Toriles and Jocote Amarillo, the cantons of La Joya and Cerro Pando, and the place known as Cerro Ortiz. 86. As the State has acknowledged and as established by Tutela Legal del Arzobispado in its report,83 when the operation ended, the troops of each company of the Atlacatl BIRI re-gathered in the canton of Guacamaya, where the leadership of the operation expressed their satisfaction with the results obtained. c) The massacre in the village of El Mozote 87. The village of El Mozote is located in Guacamaya canton, in the jurisdiction of Meanguera, department of Morazán. At the time of the events it consisted of around 20 houses located on an open space known as “El Llano,” a type of main square.84 Facing the square was “La Ermita” or village church and a small adjacent building known as “El Convento.”85 The school was nearby. 86 80 Cf. Report of the Truth Commission for El Salvador, From madness to hope: the 12-year war in El Salvador, 1992-1993 (evidence file, tome II, annex 1 to the submission of the case, folio 1196); Special report of the Ombudsman on massacres of civilian population perpetrated by State agents in the context of the internal armed conflict in El Salvador between 1980 and 1992, issued on March 7, 2005 (evidence file, tome II, annex 4 to the submission of the case, folio 1325), and Tutela Legal del Arzobispado de San Salvador, El Mozote. Lucha por la verdad y la justicia: Masacre a la Inocencia, San Salvador, El Salvador, 2008, pp. 322 and 323 (evidence file, tome VIII, annex 2 to the pleadings and motions brief, folio 5452). 81 Cf. Report of the Truth Commission for El Salvador, From madness to hope: the 12-year war in El Salvador, 1992-1993 (evidence file, tome II, annex 1 to the submission of the case, folio 1201); Special report of the Ombudsman on massacres of civilian population perpetrated by State agents in the context of the internal armed conflict in El Salvador between 1980 and 1992, issued on March 7, 2005 (evidence file, tome II, annex 4 to the submission of the case, folio 1330), and Tutela Legal del Arzobispado de San Salvador, El Mozote. Lucha por la verdad y la justicia: Masacre a la Inocencia, San Salvador, El Salvador, 2008, pp. 322 and 323 (evidence file, tome VIII, annex 2 to the pleadings and motions brief, folios 5452 to 5454). 82 Cf. Tutela Legal del Arzobispado de San Salvador, El Mozote. Lucha por la verdad y la justicia: Masacre a la Inocencia, San Salvador, El Salvador, 2008, pp. 50 and 326 (evidence file, tome VIII, annex 2 to the pleadings and motions brief, folios 5294 and 5453). 83 Cf. Tutela Legal del Arzobispado de San Salvador, El Mozote. Lucha por la verdad y la justicia: Masacre a la Inocencia, San Salvador, El Salvador, 2008, p. 66 (evidence file, tome VIII, annex 2 to the pleadings and motions brief, folio 5307). 84 Cf. Report of the Truth Commission for El Salvador, From madness to hope: the 12-year war in El Salvador, 1992-1993 (evidence file, tome II, annex 1 to the submission of the case, folios 1195 to 1196); Special report of the Ombudsman on massacres of civilian population perpetrated by State agents in the context of the internal armed conflict in El Salvador between 1980 and 1992, issued on March 7, 2005 (evidence file, tome II, annex 4 to the submission of the case, folio 1324); Archeological report, Village of El Mozote, Site 1, prepared by the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), December 1992 (evidence file, tome IV, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folio 2927), and Expert opinion provided by affidavit by Father David Blanchard on April 15, 2012 (evidence file, tome XVII, affidavits, folio 10358). 85 Cf. Archeological report, Village of El Mozote, Site 1, prepared by the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), December 1992 (evidence file, tome IV, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folio 2927). 86 Cf. Report of the Truth Commission for El Salvador, From madness to hope: the 12-year war in El Salvador, 1992-1993 (evidence file, tome II, annex 1 to the submission of the case, folio 1196). 28