Shock: US-advised Iraqi special forces execute IS suspects

Members of Iraq's special forces, once praised by the US, have been found to have tortured and executed IS suspects in Mosul.

ABC News on May 25 published several images and video clips recorded by an Iraqi photojournalist showing at least six incidents of violence against people captured by elite forces fighting IS militants.

Reporter Ali Arkady, who captured images of US-advised Iraqi special forces torturing and executing IS suspects. Photo: ABC News.

Reporter Ali Arkady, 34, who works for the war-related news agency “VII”, smuggled the photos out of Iraq after months of fighting with the Emergency Response Division (ERD), a special forces unit operating under the command of the Iraqi Interior Ministry.

The reporter’s photos show ERD members capturing and detaining suspected Islamic State (IS) militants, then torturing them to the point of forcing them to give false confessions. In some cases, they carried out so-called “on-the-spot executions.”

Originally an Iraqi Kurd and Sunni Muslim, reporter Ali Arkady initially became interested in ERD because he was impressed by how Sunni and Shi'a commanders were cooperating against IS. Arkady's work attracted the attention of many who were also inspired by this cooperation, which led ERD officers to invite him to join their raids.

But Arkady got more than he imagined when he got a close look at real war and witnessed the beatings and forced confessions of men as young as 16 years old using all kinds of methods, including electric shock.

Members of what is believed to be Iraq’s special forces unit known as the “Golden Brigades” surround an IS suspect being dragged by a rope tied to his legs. This image was posted on social media in March 2015. Photo: Daily Mail.

Arkady told ABC News that he felt forced to participate in those tortures. But he continued to remain silent, so ERD did not suspect anything and continued to let Arkady film those tortures and executions.

The images released by Arkady raise questions about whether US forces in Iraq to help local troops liberate Mosul from IS knew about such widespread human rights abuses.

Previously, US Captain Brett Sylvia, commander of the special task force in Baghdad, said that US officers were advisors to the ERD and praised it as "a very effective fighting force".

However, when ABC News contacted the US Embassy in Baghdad to ask about the images Arkady published, the US diplomatic mission in Iraq affirmed that "the US does not provide military aid, weapons or advisors to ERD".

According to the US federal law called the Leahy Act, the US is not allowed to provide military aid to any force deemed to be seriously violating human rights.”./.

According to VOV