BAGHDAD (AFP) -US forces raided an Al-Qaeda prison camp north of Baghdad on Sunday and rescued 41 Iraqi captives showing signs of having been tortured or mistreated, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Donnelly said.

“This morning we had a combined operation with the Fifth Iraqi Army just south of Baquba and we came upon an Al-Qaeda in Iraq prison camp or, if you will, a hideout,” the military spokesman told AFP.

“As we came upon this thing, we had the captors or whoever was holding them flee the scene. We immediately secured the area and got the prisoners or those that we rescued to safety,” he added.

The camp was holding 41 people, all thought to be Iraqi civilians, many of them showing signs of mistreatment ranging from broken bones and bruises to heat injuries caused by being held with insufficient water, he said.

Some of the prisoners had been held for several months.