Harrowing videos have emerged which appear to show children in Mosul being tortured and beaten with hammers by Iraqi soldiers and militia.

The civilians, some of whom look as young as eight, were assaulted while being interrogated by the Western-backed troops over whether they were loyal to ISIS, reports claim.

It came after Amnesty International warned civilians caught in the crossfire of the battle to retake the city from the terror group may face execution and torture.

One horrifying video shows a young man being hit on the knee with a hammer before a slab of concrete was thrown onto his head in front of a crowd of soldiers.

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT

Harrowing videos have emerged which appear to show children in Mosul being tortured, pictured (left) is an Iraqi solider with a hammer and a boy can be seen curled on the floor

The young boy can be heard screaming in pair after he is hit in the knee with a hammer (right)

The boy could be heard yelling 'no no' when he was brutally knee-capped. After the attack, the boy was told to 'stand up man'.

Other footage, posted to Twitter on Tuesday, shows a boy being struck over the head with an automatic weapon while he sits handcuffed in the back of a truck.

The blood-covered youth can be heard screaming in agony as the troops repeatedly hit him - while others gathered round and filmed the attack on their phones.

During the beating, the troops fired questions at the boy, asking: 'How many people were with you? 14? Where were you coming from?'

Another young boy, who had just escaped from Mosul, can be seen looking dazed after he was held down and savagely beaten by Iraqi troops.

The child, who names himself as Ihab Muhammad, is asked if he or members of his family are members of ISIS in the video, the Middle East Monitor reported.

Another young boy, who had just escaped from Mosul, can be seen looking dazed after he was held down and savagely beaten by Iraqi troops

The child, who names himself as Ihab Muhammad, is asked if he or members of his family are members of ISIS in the video

He is then seen being hit over the head by the soldiers because they did not like the explanation he gave.

The footage shows the boy screaming in pain before one Iraqi soldier told him 'shut up or else I will kill you'.

MailOnline cannot independently verify the authenticity of the footage - most of which is too graphic to be shown in full.

The torture and murder of unarmed civilians and children constitutes war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Earlier this week, Amnesty International released a scathing report accusing Iraqi and Kurdish authorities for committing grave violations of human rights against Iraq's Sunni Arab community.

The rights group said paramilitary groups and government forces had previously rounded up thousands of older boys and men who were then tortured, forcibly disappeared or extra-judicially executed.

Other footage, posted to Twitter on Tuesday, shows a shirtless, handcuffed boy being hit on the head with an automatic weapon in the back of a truck

The boy could be seen being repeatedly hit by the soldiers, as other crowded round and filmed the attack on their phones

During the beating, the troops fired questions at the boy, asking: 'How many people were with you? 14? Where were you coming from?'

In a 70-page report, titled 'Punished for Daesh's crimes', Amnesty claimed the government was complicit in 'brutal revenge attacks'.

'As the battle to retake Mosul gets underway, it is crucial that the Iraqi authorities take steps to ensure these appalling abuses do not happen again,' said Philip Luther, the group's research and advocacy director for the region.

'States supporting military efforts to combat IS in Iraq must demonstrate they will not continue to turn a blind eye to violations.'

Iraqi soldiers were seen raising their weapons in celebration today on the outskirts of Mosul as ISIS's hold on the city continues to crumble.

It came after Iraq's prime minister said the battle to seize back control of ISIS's last major stronghold in the country was going 'faster than planned'.

The civilians, some of whom look as young as eight, were assaulted while being interrogated by the Western-backed troops over whether they were loyal to ISIS, reports claim

The boy could be heard yelling 'no no' when he was brutally knee-capped in the video

After the attack, the boy was told to 'stand up man' by the Western-backed soldiers

Meanwhile, youths in Mosul have plastered leaflets on the homes of jihadists and threatened to rise up against them.

Iraqi troops charged into battle with a pre-dawn advance on a nearby town held by ISIS today, a key part of a multi-pronged assault on eastern approaches to the besieged city.

The special forces are expected to lead the way into Mosul, where they will face fierce resistance in an urban landscape where ISIS militants are preparing for a climactic battle.

The offensive is the largest operation launched by Iraqi forces since the 2003 US-led invasion, and is expected to take weeks, if not months.

Thousands of Iraqis have fled the fighting over the past few days and taken shelter in northeastern Syria.

The refugees, mostly women, children and the elderly, have been crossing the border since the day before the assault began on October 17.

Iraqi soldiers were seen raising their weapons in celebration today on the outskirts of Mosul as ISIS's hold on the city continues to crumble