Members of an elite Iraqi unit that has been praised by the United States have been photographed torturing and executing suspected ISIS operatives in the northern city of Mosul.

The shocking footage and images taken last month by an Iraqi photojournalist show at least six separate violent incidents towards detainees by the anti-militant commandos, ABC News reported on Thursday.

Ali Arkady smuggled the images out of Iraq after he spent months embedded in combat with the Emergency Response Division, an elite cadre that operates under the authority of the Iraqi Ministry of Interior.

The disturbing images show how members of the ERD detain and confine suspected ISIS militants before torturing them into making false confessions.

In some cases, they even carried out what they called 'field executions. Arkady, 34, was working on assignment for VII, a news agency that covers warzones.

Ali Arkady (above), 34, an Iraqi photojournalist, shot footage of elite Iraqi special forces committing war crimes, including torture and murder of those falsely accused of having links to ISIS

Arkady smuggled the images out of Iraq after he spent months embedded in combat with the Emergency Response Division, an elite cadre that operates under the authority of the Iraqi Ministry of Interior

Arkady shot the above video footage of a night raid during which ERD troops interrogated a suspected ISIS member

An ERD soldier is seen above punching the interrogated suspect in the face

Arkady says he witnessed a number of occasions in which ERD beat, tortured, and even killed Iraqis despite little to no evidence suggesting they had links to ISIS

As an Iraqi Kurd and Sunni Muslim, he was drawn to the ERD because he was impressed by how its commanding officers were of rival Sunni and Shi'a sects that were working together to dislodge ISIS.

Arkady's work drew a huge audience in Iraq that was inspired by Sunni and Shi'a officers – Capt. Omar Nazar and Corporal Haider Ali - joining forces to defeat ISIS.

The nationwide exposure and publicity that the unit received thanks to Arkady's work endeared the photographer to the officers, who invited him to join their forces on raids.

But Arkady got more than he bargained for when he began to get an up-close view of actual combat.

The photojournalist joined ERD on a night raid in the Iraqi village of Qabr Al-Abed on November 22.

As an Iraqi Kurd and Sunni Muslim, Arkady was drawn to the ERD because he was impressed by how its commanding officers were of rival Sunni and Shi'a sects that were working together to dislodge ISIS

But Arkady got more than he bargained for when he began to get an up-close view of actual combat

The troops entered the home of a suspected ISIS militant and pulled a man out of the bed in which he slept with his family.

'You're scaring the children,' the man's wife told the soldiers, who pressed him against the wall.

Arkady began documenting the incident as Capt. Nazar punched the man in the head 15 times.

The officer then told him to recite the pledge of allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Nazar forced the man to recite the pledge word by word, according to Arkady.

The officer then told Arkady to edit the video footage of the incident to make it appear as if the man recited the pledge without being coerced to do so.

'Say the pledge, say the pledge,' Capt. Nazar demanded as he grabbed the man by his shirt.

'I will hit you in the nuts.'

It was clear to Arkady that Nazar knew the man he had assaulted and from whom he had extracted a forced confession had no ties to ISIS.

The next day, Arkady witnessed another brutal interrogation of suspected ISIS militants in the same village.

A man and his two sons were accused by ERD of making bombs.

After he was taken into custody, the father was hanged from the ceiling of a darkened room by a rope, which extended from a hook to his bound wrists.

The man suffered dislocated shoulders as a result of the torture technique, which is known as 'strappado,' a method which dates back to the Spanish Inquisition.

To inflict even more pain, a large case of several bottles of water were placed on his shoulders.

The man was then kicked and punched before he was cut down and interrogated.

An ERD officer told the father that he would kill him and his sons if they did not confess to making improvised-explosive devices for ISIS.

'We are special forces,' the officer warned the captive.

'We conduct field executions. That is what I am telling you for your own sake.'

When ERD troops found little evidence to suggest that the man was connected to ISIS, they released him.

One of the man's sons turned himself in to the officer and his soldiers.

Arkady was filming as the boy, 16, was given about a dozen blows to the head by an officer.

The officer then threatened to kill the boy if he ever worked for ISIS again.

The photojournalist told ABC News that he felt compelled by the troops with whom he was embedded to join them in abusing detainees.

The photojournalist joined ERD on a night raid in the Iraqi village of Qabr Al-Abed on November 22. During the raid, Arkady watched as ERD troops coerced a confession from a man that had no discernible links to ISIS

Arkady says he felt compelled to slap an Iraqi detainee who was tortured because he feared ERD soldiers might try to kill him if they suspected he disapproved of their methods

In one instance, Arkady says he slapped the face of a man sitting on the floor of a room belonging to an Iraqi intelligence officer.

In another instance, Arkady hit the father who was tortured using the strappado in the back of his neck after he had fallen asleep on the floor due to exhaustion.

Arkady says that he was essentially ordered to do so by an ERD officer.

'I'm a journalist, my work is photographing,' Arkady replied.

ERD soldiers who were in the room stared at Arkady for a few uncomfortable moments.

At that point, Arkady said he feared for his life.

'My heart was beating, boom boom. 'What [are] they thinking about?' Because I photographed everything,' he said.

So Arkady then slapped the map in the back of his neck.

'It's really bad, it's not good,' Arkady said. 'I do that to survive, for my life. I'm not that man.'

ERD never suspected that Arkady had misgivings about their torturing of suspects, so they continued to allow him to amass visual evidence of their exploits.

In one particularly gruesome incident, the photographer filmed as two half-brother – a used car salesman and a falafel stand operator – from the town of Bazwaia were tortured for seven hours.

Arkady says that officers, as in previous incident, failed to come up with proof they were linked to ISIS.

Nonetheless, ERD called upon a man who spoke perfect American-accented English, 'Ali Mushtarakah,' to carry out the torture.

ERD has in the past earned praise from US military officers due to their efforts to drive ISIS out of Mosul. ERD soldiers are seen above on the frontlines in west Mosul on May 6 during the offensive to recapture the area from ISIS

When presented with Arkady's footage, the US military reversed course, saying in a statement that it no longer provided aid to ERD

An ERD officer contacted by ABC News confirmed that the footage taken by Arkady was authentic

Despite denials that the US aids ERD, the unit still uses American-supplied equipment, including Humvees and Carl Gustav anti-tank launchers, according to ABC News

He used live wires to shock the two men. He then ripped out the beard of one of them while threatening to cut off the ear of the other if he did not recite the ISIS pledge of allegiance.

Ali Mushtarakah told Arkady that he worked as a contractor and interpreter for US troops in Iraq for about 10 years.

He also said that he learned interrogation methods from American soldiers.

'Say the pledge of allegiance [to ISIS] or I will make you unable to talk anymore,' Mushtarakah shouts at one brother, as he presses the prisoner's face into the floor with his knee.

'I swear, I don't know it,' the prisoner pleads, wincing in pain with each twist of Mushtarakah's blade.

'I swear I don't know it.'

But Mushtarakah persisted.

'Say the pledge of allegiance or I'll turn you mute,' he said.

Mushtarakah said that he was a US citizen. He also showed Arkady his Iraqi identity card, which bore what is believed to be his real name – Ali Abdul Hussein Abd.

ABC News sought comment from the US government, which declined to comment whether the man in question was a US national or whether he had ever worked for the military as a contractor.

'We also have no reason to believe any of those alleged to have committed improper acts directly worked with U.S. forces in Iraq,' a military spokesperson told ABC News.

While Ali Mushtarakah continued with his torture of the two men, Arkady left the house in which it was taking place.

The next morning, Arkady says he received a video clip from an ERD soldier.

The clip showed what appeared to be the two brothers lying dead on the same floor where they were tortured.

The soldier is seen in the video poking at the bodies of the two dead detainees.

He said the executions were retaliation for the targeting of a senior Shi'a militia leader.

'We took revenge,' said the soldier, Ahmad Abu al-Fathil.

'Thank God, they have been 100% terminated in revenge for al-Zaydi, Haji Shebl al-Zaydi, and every Iraqi mother.'

After seeing the corpses in the video, Arkady thought this arrangement could not continue.

He decided to show his boss some of the footage and images he had taken.

Andy Patrick, Arkady's editor at VII, was horrified at what he saw.

'Sitting in my office in California, I was like, "Oh my god",' Patrick said.

'It was a different lens in which I viewed it all. And I said, "You need to get out of there immediately".'

Patrick was fearful that Arkady's life was in danger because of the treasure trove of evidence he had amassed during the time spent with ERD.

Arkady agreed with his editor that he needed to find a way to smuggle the footage out of Iraq.

He also realized he needed to get his family out of Iraq and to safety in Europe.

Before ERD realized that Arkady and his family had fled Iraq, they sent him another video, this one a 14-second clip filmed by a cell phone.

It shows two ERD officers executing a handcuffed prisoner by shooting nine bullets into his back.

'No! Please!' the prisoner begs as he is blindfolded in the middle of a field.

Despite initial denials by the ERD, Captain Nazar confirmed to ABC News that Arkady's footage was authentic.

He was also unapologetic about his group's tactics.

Nazar said that the execution of the handcuffed prison was justified because he 'is not human, he is a monster.'

'So what do you suggest I do with him then? Put him in a vase for public display?' Nazar asked. 'And spend money on keeping him alive? After he has killed and raped hundreds?'

ERD has told Arkady's remaining friends and family in Iraq that they intend to kill him if he returns.

They even told his father on Facebook that they plan to pay him 'an official visit'.

'Sir, we have a matter that concerns us and I want to solve it with you quietly,' Nazar told Arkady's father in a text message.

'Tribal law holds you responsible as his father.'

When asked if he feels safe enough to return home, Arkady said: 'I don't know. Really, I don't know. I'd like, because I love Baghdad and Iraq.'