BAGHDAD, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Five Iraqi federal policemen, including an officer, were killed on Thursday in an attack by Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq's northern province of Kirkuk, a provincial security source said.
A federal police force was ambushed by IS gunmen while conducting a search operation near Daquq, some 60 km south of Kirkuk, 250 km north of Baghdad, Major Hashim Salih, from the federal police, told Xinhua.
The extremist IS militants opened fire on the force, leaving five policemen, including a Major, killed while another policeman was wounded, Salih said.
He added that the assailants fled the scene to an unknown destination.
In December 2017, Iraq declared full liberation from the IS after security forces and 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 locations as safe havens, carrying out guerilla attacks targeting security forces and civilians.
