BAGHDAD, May 2 (Xinhua) -- A total of three security members were killed and six others wounded on Saturday in two attacks by Islamic State militants in the eastern province of Diyala, a provincial police source said.
In one attack, two policemen were killed and three others wounded when IS militants attacked a police checkpoint in Abbara area northeast of the provincial capital Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, Alaa al-Saadi told Xinhua.
In the other incident, IS militants blew up a roadside bomb near an army patrol in Edheim area, some 60 km north of Baquba, al-Saadi said.
The blast destroyed a military vehicle, killing a soldier and wounding three others aboard, he added.
The attacks came hours after a series of attacks by IS militants on the security forces in the neighboring Salahudin province that reportedly killed a total of 17 security members.
Despite repeated military operations against the IS remnants, IS militants are still hiding in deserts, rugged areas as well as in Himreen mountain range which extends in the provinces of Diyala, Salahudin and Kirkuk. They are capable of carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.
The Iraqi Joint Operations Command said earlier in a statement that a total of 135 IS militants have been killed in Iraq from Jan. 1 to April 15 in 1,060 anti-IS operations by the Iraqi security forces.
It said that up to 88 security members and 82 civilians were also killed by the IS militants during the same period. Enditem
