US forces say they raided an al-Qaeda hideout northeast of Baghdad and freed 41 Iraqis imprisoned inside, including some who had been tortured.

“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,” Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Donnelly said. The raid was part of a security crackdown that included the deployment of 3,000 more US troops to Diyala, a violent province north of the capital where there has been heavy fighting recently.

“As we came upon this thing, the captors or whoever was holding them fled the scene. We immediately secured the area and got the prisoners or those that we rescued to safety,” Colonel Donelly said.

The camp was holding 41 people, thought to be Iraqi civilians, many showing signs of mistreatment ranging from broken bones and bruises to dehydration, he said. Some had been held for several months.

In an overnight operation on Saturday, British troops in the south who arrested four people were attacked by small-arms fire and rockets. Three militants were killed but none of the 400 troops was hurt.

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