ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Islamic State is holding hundreds of civilians in secret prison camps in remote areas of Anbar province and has threatened to kill them all, a local tribal leader has said.

“The ISIS militants have imprisoned 300 civilians in prisons in the deserts of Anbar province, including police, army officers and civil servants who are charged with refusing to join ISIS,” said Na’im Ga’ud, chief of the prominent Abu-Alnamir tribe

“ISIS militants control lots of territory in the Anbar desert and sometimes they conduct operations to arrest those who reject their ideology,” he added.

Ga’ud added that the many people in the Anbar towns of Qaim, Rawa and Hit have fled their homes, having lost loved ones and fearing more ISIS violence.

Ga’ud urged the Iraqi government to start launch an assault on ISIS positions in Anbar province.

Rudaw