UK troops killed 20 Iraqis in their custody, claim lawyers

London: British troops may have killed up to 20 Iraqis in their custody in 2004, lawyers said on Friday.

Some alleged survivors of the gun battle near the southern Iraqi town of Majar Al Kabir also claim corpses were mutilated by UK military personnel.

The claims, strongly denied by the Ministry of Defence, are based on witness statements from five men who described what they heard happening to other people captured after a gun battle.