BAGHDAD, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S.-led coalition aircraft carried out airstrikes on hideouts of the extremist Islamic State (IS) militant group in Salahudin province in the north of Baghdad, leaving five IS militants killed, the Iraqi military said on Sunday.
Based on a request by the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC), the international aircraft bombarded an orchard near the town of Yathrib, some 80 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, destroying the hideouts and killing the five militants, the JOC media office said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Mohammed al-Bazi from Salahudin provincial police told Xinhua that the airstrikes were carried out late on Saturday night, targeting IS hideouts in two villages near Yathrib.
One of the five killed was Walid al-Qarni, the local leader of IS in the area, al-Bazi added.
The airstrikes came as the extremist IS militants have intensified their attacks on the security 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
