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Kurdish regional government forces. Isis has been pushed out of nearly all cities and towns it once held in Iraq. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Children detained by Iraqs Kurdistan regional government on suspicion of connections to Islamic State say they were tortured, according to a report from an international human rights group.

The children who have not been formally charged with a crime said they were held in stress positions, burned with cigarettes, shocked with electricity and beaten with plastic pipes, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York based international watchdog.

More than 180 boys under the age of 18 are being held, HRW estimates, and government officials have not informed their families where they are, increasing the likelihood of the children being disappeared.

Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at HRW, said: Legitimate security concerns do not give security forces licence to beat, manhandle or use electric shocks on children.

Many children escaping from Isis are victims who need help, yet face further abuse by Asayish [Kurdish security] forces.

The rights group said it had interviewed 19 boys aged 11 to 17 while they were in custody at a childrens reformatory in Erbil. The group said the interviews had been conducted without a security official or intelligence officer present.

As Iraqi security forces have retaken territory from Isis over the past year and a half, they have also detained hundreds of men and boys.

Many of those detained are likely to have suffered inhumane treatment or been tortured. Rights groups warn that such practices risk sowing resentment against Iraqi security forces in the wake of military victories against Isis.

If the authorities and the international coalition really care about combatting Isis, they need to look beyond the military solution, and at the policies that have empowered it, said Belkis Wille, the senior Iraq researcher for HRW.

Policies like torture, enforced disappearances, destruction of property and displacement are and will continue to [be] drivers for victims families to join extremist groups, she added.

Iraqi forces have pushed Isis out of nearly all the cities and towns the group once held in Iraq. Mosul is the last major urban centre Isis holds in Iraq and Iraqi forces have retaken half the city since the operation was officially launched in October.

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Children held in Iraq over suspected Isis links 'say they were tortured' - The Guardian

Congressman and Iraq War veteran Seth Moulton, D-Mass., said that President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration and refugees amounts to "a Muslim ban," despite the administration's assertions that the order aims solely to keep the country safe.

"What he's doing with this Muslim ban just is so wrong and un-American, you see why so many Americans across the country are rising up against it," the Democratic representative told ABC News' Martha Raddatz on "This Week."

When Raddatz noted, "They will tell you again and again, it is not a Muslim ban," Moulton replied, "There's no question what's going on here. We're not stupid. We see what Trump is up to."

On Saturday, Moulton tweeted to President Trump: "Your #MuslimBan is completely at odds with our most fundamental value: freedom. I'm ashamed that you are our president."

Moulton also said he believes that Trump's new defense secretary, ret. Gen. James Mattis, does not support the executive order. The order signed Friday immediately suspends immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa -- Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran and Libya -- for 90 days. It also ends for 120 days the entry of any refugees into the U.S., and indefinitely suspends the entry of Syrian refugees.

"You know, I worked for Gen. Mattis. I know him," said Moulton, who as a lieutenant in the U.S. Marines served four tours in Iraq, including two as special assistant to Gen. David Petraeus. Moulton also worked to gain asylum in the U.S. for an Iraqi interpreter who risked his life working with Moulton and fellow U.S. service members.

"There is no way in hell that he is supportive of this," the congressman said of Mattis. "He relied on translators for his life, just like I did. He understands what it means to put your life in the hands of an Iraqi or an Afghan. And he also knows that implicit in that is that they put their lives in our hands, as well, and now we're abandoning them."

Mattis along with Vice President Mike Pence stood at Trump's side when the president signed the order Friday.

Moulton added that he believes the executive order is an indication that Mattis and another former high-ranking military officer in the administration, ret. Gen. John Kelly, the new secretary of homeland security, "don't have a voice in the Trump administration, that Trump is just doing things for political gain, not in the best interests of our national security."

The Democratic Massachusetts representative predicted the executive order will be used by terror groups as a recruiting tool and that it won't make the U.S. safer.

"It's fundamentally un-American, and it's also making America less safe. And that's something that Americans need to understand today, is that what Trump is doing is harming our national security. It will incite attacks against us. ISIS is already using this ban as propaganda. And it will prevent us from being able to get the allies that are so critical in our war against terror," Moulton said on "This Week."

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Iraq War Vet Congressman: Americans See That Trump's Order Is Really 'a Muslim Ban' - ABC News

President Trump defended his new extreme vetting policy Sunday in the face of severe pushback from judges, members of Congress and the press, saying President Obama did much the same thing when he put a pause on Iraqi refugees for six months in 2011.

He also bristled at accusations that his policy, which halts admissions from seven countries with a history of terrorism, is a Muslim ban, pointing to what he said are 40 other majority-Muslim countries that werent affected by his executive order Friday.

Mr. Trump also said the U.S. will begin issuing visas after his administration stiffens vetting procedures over the next 90 days.

America has always been the land of the free and home of the brave. We will keep it free and keep it safe, as the media knows, but refuses to say. My policy is similar to what President Obama did in 2011 when he banned visas for refugees from Iraq for six months, he said.

Federal judges have poked at his policy, ordering him to allow new arrivals already approved for visas to remain in the U.S.

But the crux of Mr. Trumps order, which halts the issuance of new visas, remains in effect.

Mr. Obama in 2011 imposed a six-month pause on Iraqi refugees after the FBI concluded that terrorists had managed to exploit the program. One person was admitted even though his fingerprints were found on an improvised explosive device in Iraq.

Problems persisted even after that. Two men who entered as refugees from Iraq including one whod most recently lived in Syria were charged with terrorism-related crimes a year ago.

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Trump says extreme vetting pause is same as Obama's 2011 Iraq policy - Washington Times

ERBIL, Kurdistan RegionCasualties of trauma remain high on the frontlines of the Mosul battle, says the world health organization (WHO) and that great amounts of funding is needed to provide healthcare for 2.7 million people affected by the ongoing war.

The WHO and other organizations try to treat patients and people sustaining wounds as a result of the war between government forces and ISIS militants in field hospitals near the front, many of them however need to be transferred to Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Region.

Trauma casualty rates remain high near frontline areas, with many trauma cases requiring referral from Mosul to Erbil in northern Iraq. WHO says in a statement.

According to the organization, from the start of the Mosul offensive on October 17 until January 18, 1610 wounded civilians were sent to Erbils 2 main hospitals to receive trauma care.

Many hospitals in Mosul have suffered extensive damage and are no longer able to provide health services to the general population and to civilians injured. WHO reported. Without these services, patients are experiencing serious complications, and in some cases death.

A report by the organization says: To fully support the health needs resulting from the Mosul operation, WHO requires a total of US$ 65 million of which US$ 14 million (21%) has been received.

Iraqi troops supported by Peshmerga and coalition forces launched an offensive to retake Mosul from ISIS during which many civilians have lost their lives due to bombardment or deliberate ISIS attacks.

The world health organization believes that a patients chance of survival is greatly increased if they receive medical care within an hour of injury known as the golden hour.

It explains in a statement that: To fill this gap, WHO and partners have established a 50-bed field hospital, with two operating rooms, in Bartella, eastern Mosul to treat severely injured patients with gunshot wounds, mine and shell injuries, and other injuries.

Health officials in the Kurdistan Region have long complained that their hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of civilian cases brought to them from the frontlines, while urging the central government in Baghdad to shoulder some of the burden.

To this end, the WHO has brought to the frontlines health staff of various specializations, including surgeons and nurses to treat the wounded near the front.

The organization reported on Sunday that: Three additional field hospitals with a capacity of 4050 beds will be established soon to support access to trauma care to the west and south of Mosul. Each hospital will be handed over to the Ministry of Health after six months to scale-up national capacity for trauma care services in the country.

WHO pushes for further funds for its field hospitals because it believes the drive to the nearest hospital in Erbil could make a difference between life and death.

These hospitals will fill a critical gap, as trauma patients are currently transported to referral hospitals in Erbil, northern Iraq, a one- to 2-hour drive away, it reports. To ensure that these patients have a greater chance of survival during their journey, 4 trauma stabilization points are currently operational, with additional points planned along referral routes.

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Iraq: WHO seeks funds for greater 'chance of survival' on the front - Rudaw

U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of yesterdays strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 12 strikes consisting of 18 engagements in Syria:

Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an oil wellhead.

Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed an oil pumpjack.

Near Raqqa, nine strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed 10 oil refinement stills, five oil storage tanks, three oil pumpjacks, an ISIL-held building and two oil tanker trucks.

Near Tanf, a strike damaged an ISIL supply route.

Strikes in Iraq

Artillery as well as attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 11 strikes consisting of 24 engagements in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:

Near Huwayjah, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit.

Near Haditha, two strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and destroyed three vehicles, a rocket system and a vehicle-borne improvised bomb.

Near Kisik, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an unmanned-aerial-vehicle launch site and an ISIL-held building.

Near Mosul, five strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units; destroyed two ISIL headquarters, two vehicle-borne improvised bomb-making facilities, two barges, a fighting position, a tactical vehicle, a vehicle-borne improvised bomb, and an anti-air artillery system; and suppressed an ISIL tactical unit.

Near Sinjar, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a command-and-control node and an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat it poses to Iraq, Syria, the region and the wider international community. The destruction of targets in Syria and Iraq further limits ISILs ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

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US Conducts More Strikes Against ISIS in Syria, Iraq - Shore News Magazine