BAGHDAD, June 30 (Xinhua) -- A total of four paramilitary Hashd Shaabi members were killed on Tuesday in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq's Salahudin Province to the north of the capital Baghdad, a provincial police source said.
"The incident took place when a roadside bomb struck a Hashd Shaabi vehicle while patrolling in a village near the provincial capital Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad," Mohammed al-Bazi told Xinhua.
The explosion resulted in the killing of four Hashd Shaabi members and the wounding of two others, in addition to the destruction of their vehicle, al-Bazi said.
A reinforcement force arrived at the scene and launched an investigation into the incident, he added.
The incident came as the extremist IS militants have intensified their attacks on the security forces, including Hashd Shaabi forces, and civilians in the Sunni provinces formerly controlled by the Islamic State (IS) militants, resulting in the killing and wounding of dozens.
The security situation in Iraq has been improving since Iraqi security forces fully defeated the IS militants across the country late in 2017.
However, IS remnants have since melted in urban areas or deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. Enditem
