Iraqi forces have displaced, beaten and imprisoned members of at least 235 families of suspected Isil fighters, Human Rights Watch said on Sunday.

The rights watchdog accused the Popular Mobilisation Front (PMF), a group of government-linked Shiite militias that answer to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, of “waging collective punishment on civilians”.

Human Rights Watch said it conducted interviews with at least 235 families as well as officials, managers of camps for displaced people, and international organisations.

From these, it alleges that PMF forces removed the families of suspected Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) militants from their homes around the Hawija area and sent them to camps in the Kirkuk area.

During the displacement of these civilian families, groups within the PMF are alleged to have destroyed homes, forced parents to leave children behind, stolen families’ livestock and beaten some of the men.

“Retaliatory actions like these have no basis in law. Collective punishment is a violation of the laws of war,” Human Rights Watch’s Lama Fakih told the Telegraph.