The source told AFP that eight Iraqis "convicted of terrorism and of being members of the Islamic State group were executed by hanging" Thursday at Al-Hut prison in the city of Nasiriyah "under the supervision of a justice ministry team".

A local medical source confirmed that the health department had received the bodies of eight executed people.

Under Iraqi law, terrorism and murder offences are punishable by death, and execution decrees must be signed by the president.

The eight Iraqis were hanged "under Article 4 of the anti-terrorism law", the security source said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

On May 6, Iraqi authorities executed by hanging 11 people convicted of "terrorism", security and health sources told AFP. It was the second such group put to death since late April.

The execution on April 22 of 11 people sparked concern among rights groups, with Amnesty International condemning an "alarming lack of transparency".

Al-Hut is a notorious prison in Nasiriyah whose Arabic name means "the whale", because Iraqis believe that those jailed there never walk out alive.

Iraqi courts have handed down hundreds of death and life sentences in recent years for people convicted of membership in a "terrorist group", an offence that carries the death penalty regardless of whether the defendant had been an active fighter.