350 prisoners feared 'disappeared' by Iraqi Kurd forces

Hundreds of detainees in Iraq are feared to have been "forcibly disappeared" by Kurdish authorities after they were arrested for suspected ties to the Islamic State group, Human Rights Watch said yesterday.

"More than 350 detainees held by the Kurdistan Regional Government in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk are feared to have been forcibly disappeared," the US-based rights group said in a statement.

Most of those missing are Sunni Arabs detained by the Kurdish Asayish security agency on suspicion of IS "affiliation" after Kirkuk was taken from the jihadists in 2014, the statement said.

"Families in Kirkuk are desperate to know what has become of their detained relatives," said HRW's deputy Middle East director, Lama Fakih.

"The secret, incommunicado detentions raise grave concerns for their safety."