BAGHDAD, June 11 (Xinhua) -- A total of three Islamic State (IS) militants and a civilian were killed on Tuesday in separate incidents in the Iraqi provinces of Kirkuk and Diyala.
In the northern Kirkuk province, a federal police force acted on intelligence reports and raided IS hideouts in a village near the town of Hawijah, some 50 km southwest of the city of Kirkuk, the media office of the Joint Operations Command said in a statement.
During the operation, the troops killed three IS militants, confiscated their weapons and destroyed their hideouts, the statement said.
Meanwhile, in the eastern Diyala province, a villager was killed in a roadside bomb explosion in a village east of the town of Abu Saida, some 25 km northeast the provincial capital Baquba, Awad al-Rubaie, head of security committee of the town of Abu Saida, told Xinhua.
According to al-Rubaie, security forces have launched an investigation into the incident.
Despite repeated military operations in Diyala province, remnants of IS militants were still hiding in rugged areas near the border with Iran, as well as the sprawling areas extending from western part of Diyala to Himreen mountainous area in the northern part of the province.
The security situation in Iraq was dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.
IS remnants, however, have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas as safe havens, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.
