This is intercepted.

The buzz of a drone at night was the first sign of trouble.

Next came the roar of a larger, lower-flying aircraft, which alerted residents of the Afghan

village of Omar Hell that soldiers were nearby.

Men in camouflage moved through the streets, speaking Pashda on English.

It was December 2018, and the air was frigid.

They made their way to the religious school on Madrasa, where more than two dozen boys between the ages of nine and eighteen

slept on the floors of several dormitory rooms.

A neighbor watching from a window across the streets are a flash and heard a loud explosion as the front gate of the Madrasa was blown open.

Inside, the noise awakened twelve-year-old Bilal, who was huddled in a room with nine other boys when an Afghan soldier burst through the door, pointing at the boys one by one with the barrel of his rifle, which was mounted with a flashlight.

A second soldier entered, chose the two tallest boys and led them out the door.

The first man turned to leave, but before he did, he issued a warning to the rest of the boys cowering before him.

If I find you in this Madrasa again, we won't leave a single child alive.

Bilal and the others squeezed together as far from the door as they could, with their backs to a large window facing a central courtyard.

Many were in tears. Others couldn't speak at all.

From the hallway, Bilal heard words he recognized as English. There were Americans in the corridor.

In preparation for death, some of the boys recited the Muslim Declaration of Faith, known as the Shahada.

There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.

Just then, the sound of automatic gunfire tore along the corridor.

Boys' screams came next.

Follered sometime later by two loud explosions.

One shook the whole building, said Bilal.

...