US and Iraqi forces found a blood-spattered "torture complex" used by insurgents and the remains of 26 people buried nearby in troubled Diyala province, the US military said Thursday.
The discovery of the site and other evidence of atrocities and executions was made during a joint December 8-11 security sweep in the province known as Operation Iron Reaper, but announced only on Thursday.
"Evidence of murder, torture and intimidation against local villagers was found throughout the area," north of the town of Muqdadiyah, the military said in a statement.
The troops found "what appeared to be a detention facility. As they continued to clear the area, they found several bodies and eventually uncovered 26 human remains in multiple mass graves next to execution sites," the statement said.