An appeals court says the federal government must release 20 photographs of U.S. soldiers and detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan that were demanded by a civil rights group seeking to expose abuse.

The federal appeals court in New York on Monday rejected the government's claim that releasing the photos would endanger the lives or physical safety of U.S. troops and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A lower court judge had already ordered that identifying facial features be removed from the pictures before they are released to the American Civil Liberties Union.