BAGHDAD, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- A total of nine Iranian pilgrims were wounded Sunday when Islamic State (IS) militants attacked their bus in north of Baghdad, security and medical sources said.
The pilgrims' bus was attacked on a highway in south the town of Balad, some 80 km north the capital Baghdad, while heading to a prominent Shia Muslims' shrine in the town, sources said.
"The casualties were then rushed to the nearby Balad General Hospital, but one of them has sustained severe injuries and had to be transferred to Al-Kadhimiya Hospital for further treatment," a medical source told Xinhua.
In December 2017, Iraq declared full liberation from the IS after the security forces and the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units, backed by the anti-IS international coalition, recaptured all areas once seized by the extremist group.
However, IS remnants have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas as safe havens, carrying out guerilla attacks from time to time against the security forces and civilians.
