2/2 French team commander Paul Barril stated in filmed testimony featured in an Al Jazeera documenta

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French team commander Paul Barril stated in filmed testimony featured in an Al Jazeera documentary that the operation was "extremely bloody and violent", saying: "We were not asked about our religion, but about the accuracy of the sniper rifles we had." He estimated the actual number of people killed inside the Grand Mosque and its corridors at between 3,000 and 5,000, which completely contradicts the figures and numbers announced by the Saudi authorities, which, according to this account, falsely minimized the scale of the catastrophe in an attempt to save face for the ruling regime.

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The History Post Facebook page.

The Washington Post, January 27, 1980, article titled: “Paris Aid to Saudis Cited in Ending Mosque Siege.”

BBC report titled: “Mecca 1979: The Mosque Siege That Changed the Course of Saudi History.”

Al Jazeera documentary from Tamer al-Meshal’s program The Hidden Is More Significant, titled: “Juhayman… The Other Narrative.”