Iraq hangs 10 convicted of 'terrorism': health, security officials

Iraqi authorities hanged 10 people on Tuesday after they were convicted on "terrorism" charges, security and health officials said.

Iraqi courts have handed down hundreds of sentences of death and life imprisonment to people convicted of terrorism offences, including hundreds of foreigners -- some of whom were caught in Syria and transferred across the border.

A health official said the forensics department in Dhi Qar province received the bodies of 10 Iraqis "convicted of terrorism crimes, who were hanged" at a prison in the southern city of Nasiriyah.

A security source confirmed the executions.

They were hanged under Article 4 of the anti-terrorism law, both officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

The prison in Nasiriyah is known by the Arabic nickname Al-Hut, or "the whale", because many Iraqis believe those jailed there never walk out alive.

Iraq's prisons are crowded with suspected jihadists, including Islamic State group members, and have recently received thousands more detainees transferred from neighbouring Syria.

Some human rights groups have criticised Iraqi terrorism trials as being rushed and lacking due process.

Earlier this month, Iraq began the trials of several suspected French jihadists.

In 2019, 11 French nationals received death sentences that were later commuted to life in prison.