BAGHDAD, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi security forces on Saturday killed five militants of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group and arrested a total of nine others in the country, the Iraqi military said.
A statement by the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said that a force of the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces foiled an attack by IS militants in the Jurf al-Naser area in the province of Babil in the south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
The clash resulted in the killing of five IS militants, the statement said without giving further details.
Separately, the Iraqi forces arrested five IS militants in the Tarmiyah area, some 30 km north of Baghdad, as well as arresting four others in Iraq's western province of Anbar and the northern province of Kirkuk, according to the statement.
The troops also found several hideouts used by IS militants and seized caches of weapons, ammunition, and roadside bombs, the statement added.
The situation in Iraq has been improving since Iraqi security forces fully defeated the IS across the country late in 2017.
However, IS remnants have since melted in deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. Enditem
