Over 1,000 Detainees Held in 'Horrendous Conditions' in Western Iraq

More than 1,000 detainees, including some as young as 15, are being held without charge in horrendous conditions at makeshift holding centres in Anbar governorate, west of Baghdad, according to Amnesty International.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — About 1,000 individuals, including minors, are held in appalling living conditions in counter-terrorism centers in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, a human rights watchdog said Tuesday.

"More than 1,000 detainees, including some as young as 15, are being held without charge in horrendous conditions at makeshift holding centres in Anbar governorate, west of Baghdad," Amnesty International said in a statement.

In one of the facilities, run by the province's counter-terrorism agency, some 680 detainees were "packed together like sardines in a tin" without enough space "to stretch or lie down to sleep" and they were rarely allowed to go outside for a breath of fresh air, the rights group added.

The detainees were taken into custody on suspicion of cooperating with Daesh terrorists, after the Iraqi Armed Forces recaptured the settlements those people were living in, the watchdog noted.

The Daesh, which is outlawed in Russia and a number of other countries, has taken over large territories of Syria and Iraq, including a vast part of Anbar province, since 2014, declaring a caliphate on the territories under its control and committing numerous human rights atrocities.