BAGHDAD, April 11 (Xinhua) -- A total of four security members were killed on Thursday in separate attacks on Iraqi security forces in the provinces of Salahudin and Anbar, a security source and an official said.
In Salahudin, gunmen opened fire at dawn on a Hashd Shaabi convoy, affiliated with Saraya al-Salam paramilitary forces, in the north of Samarra city, some 120 km north of the capital Baghdad, killing one paramilitary member and wounding two others, Mohammed al-Bazi from the provincial police command told Xinhua.
After the sunrise, the gunmen launched another attack on a joint force of Saraya al-Salam and federal police during its search for the attackers, leaving a police officer, policeman and Hashd Shaabi member killed and another paramilitary fighter wounded, al-Bazi said.
Saraya al-Salam, or Peace Companies, is a militia under the leadership of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and part of Hashd Shaabi forces.
In a separate incident, a roadside bomb went off among civilians in the town of Amiriyah Fallujah in Anbar, wounding two people, Shakir al-Esawi, mayor of the town, told Xinhua.
Afterwards another roadside bomb detonated when a police force arrived at the scene, wounding two policemen, al-Esawi added.
The attackers apparently followed the old tactic of first creating an initial explosion to attract security forces, and then setting off another to inflict heavier casualties.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State (IS) militants, in most cases, are responsible for such attacks targeting areas where civilians gather, such as markets, cafes and mosques.
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.
