Mclaren remained in the village as local Kurds continued to engage in massacre throughout the countryside.[60] This was followed by the mass arrests of Armenian men aged ten years and above on June 22.[61][62] On June 25, the ongoing massacres were further assisted by Cevdet Bey who arrived in Bitlis from Van accompanied with 8,000 reinforcement troops known as "human butchers."[62] Those arrested were then escorted out of the city and killed using axes and shovels.[62] Mclaren related that those who resisted arrest were killed and their houses were burned.[61] According to historian Raymond Kévorkian, it took two weeks for the Armenian male population of Bitlis to be eliminated.[62] Soon after the arrests, the deportation of women and children began on 29 June.[63] Mclaren and other American colleagues tried to save young girls under their care from deportation by appealing to the Vali.