BAGHDAD, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Four villagers were killed and seven others wounded Tuesday in an attack by Islamic State (IS) militants on a village near Iraq's northern city of Kirkuk, a local police source said.
The attack took place in the evening when IS militants attacked a village in northwest of Kirkuk, which itself located some 250 km north of Baghdad, sparking a fierce clash with the villagers, Ayman Jasim from Kirkuk police told Xinhua.
The clashes continued between the two sides during the night, and the villagers called on the security forces to intervene to help defend the villagers' homes, Jasim said.
The security situation in Iraq has been improved since Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.
However, IS remnants have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.
