BAGHDAD, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Seven militants of the Islamic State (IS) group were killed on Tuesday in U.S.-led coalition airstrikes on an IS hideout in Iraq's northern province of Kirkuk, the Iraqi military said.
The International coalition aircraft conducted two airstrikes at dawn on an IS position in a rugged area named Wadi al-Shay in the southern part of the province, the media office of the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.
Iraqi security forces at the scene found human remains of about seven militants, in addition to a tunnel 10 meters away from the site of the strike, which the forces later destroyed, the JOC statement said.
The troops also found another IS hideout containing explosive belts and destroyed mobile devices, according to the statement.
The mountains and vast rugged areas in the north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad have witnessed intense activities of the IS militants during the past months, despite repeated military operations to hunt them down.
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
