The operation was organized by Liman von Sanders.[11] Though Sanders claimed that he tried to keep the operation under control, numerous atrocities were committed against the local civilian population from early on.[12] Moreover, the deportations were accompanied by looting and destruction of Greek churches, schools, hospitals and dwellings in the region as well as in nearby Bergama and Dikili.[13] According to contemporary reports by the Greek press, gangs of Muslim boys were also mobilized by amputating the hands of Greek children as a punishment after the latter threw stones at the Ottoman soldiers.[14]