Iraq: 3 Islamic State militants killed in Salahudin province

Baghdad: Three Islamic State (IS) militants were killed in airstrikes while a security member was killed in a separate incident in the Salahudin province north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the Iraqi military said.

A force from the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service was sent at dawn on Wednesday to search IS hideouts that had been bombarded by Iraqi F-16 jet fighters the day before in the Balkanah Mountain in the northeast of the province, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement issued by the Security Media Cell, a media outlet affiliated with the Iraqi Joint Operations Command.

The troops found three bodies of the extremist IS militants at the bombed hideouts, along with weapons and other equipment, it said.

In a separate incident, a security member was killed and another wounded on Wednesday when IS militants attacked a security outpost near the town of Tuz Khormatu in the eastern part of Salahudin province.

Over the past months, Iraqi security forces have conducted operations against extremist militants to crack down on their intensified activities.

The security situation in Iraq has been improving since the defeat of the IS in 2017. However, IS remnants have since sneaked into urban centers, deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.