BAGHDAD, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Two civilians were killed and three Islamic State (IS) militants were captured on Friday in Iraq, security sources said.
A roadside bomb exploded on a civilian car near a village in south of the town of Shirqat, some 280 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, killing a father and his daughter and wounding two family members in the car, Mohammed al-Bazi from Salahudin provincial police command told Xinhua.
Separately, a force from the Iraqi intelligence service arrested three IS militants in Hawijah area, in the southwestern part of Iraq's northern province of Kirkuk, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The troops also destroyed two IS hideouts and seized a cache of explosive devices and ammunition, the statement said.
The incidents came as the extremist IS militants have intensified their attacks on the security forces, including Hashd Shaabi forces, and civilians in the formerly IS-controlled Sunni provinces, 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
