AKIPRESS.COM - About 1,500 children are held in detention in Iraq and the country's Kurdish-run areas for alleged links to Islamic State, Human Rights Watch says.

In a report, it says the suspects are often arbitrarily arrested and tortured to force confessions.

HRW urges the Iraqi and Kurdish authorities to amend anti-terror laws to end such detentions, saying they violate international law.

Iraq and the Kurdish authorities have so far made no comment.

The Kurdish government has previously rejected an HWR report which alleged that children were being tortured to confess to IS links.

In January, an official said the local authorities' policy was to "rehabilitate" such children; torture was prohibited; and children were afforded the same rights as other prisoners.