BAGHDAD, March 22 (Xinhua) -- A civilian and two Islamic State (IS) militants were killed Friday in Iraq's central province of Salahudin, a provincial police source said.
Acting on intelligence reports, a paramilitary Hashid Shaabi unit attacked in the afternoon a group of IS militants in Mu'tasim area, about 100 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Mohammed al-Bazi from Salahudin Provincial Police Command told Xinhua.
The attack left two IS militants killed and pushed the other militants to flee the scene, al-Bazi said.
The troops seized different weapons and ammunition left by the militant at the scene, he added.
In a separate incident, al-Bazi said that IS militants opened fire on a group of civilians collecting truffles in the desert in west of the town of Baiji, some 200 km north of Baghdad, leaving a civilian killed and another wounded.
The security situation in Iraq has been dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces declared full defeat of the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.
However, IS remnants have since melted or regrouped in cities or fled to desert and rugged areas, carrying out attacks against the security forces and civilians despite operations from time to time to hunt them down.
