BAGHDAD, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- A total of six militants of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group and four members of the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces were killed on Saturday in separate incidents in Iraq, security sources said.
In one incident, the government-backed Hashd Shaabi forces killed two local leaders of IS group in an operation and killed them in the Tarmiyah area, some 30 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a Hashd Shaabi statement said.
Afterward, sporadic clashes erupted between the two sides in the same area, leaving three Hashd Shaabi members killed and two others wounded, while three IS militants were also killed in the clashes, the statement said.
In addition, a roadside bomb planted by IS militants exploded near a Hashd Shaabi vehicle in Jurf al-Sakhar area, some 50 km south of Baghdad, and resulted in the killing of a paramilitary member and the wounding of two others, the Hashd Shaabi said in a separate statement.
In Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, a provincial intelligence force raided an IS hideout near the town of Khanaqin, some 165 km northeast of Baghdad, and killed a would-be suicide bomber and arrested three IS militants at the site, Maj. Alaa al-Saadi from the provincial police command told Xinhua.
The security situation has been relatively improved in Iraq since the Iraqi security forces fully defeated IS militants across the country late in 2017.
However, sporadic deadly incidents still occurred in the war-ravaged country as IS remnants have since melted into urban areas or deserts and rugged areas, waging frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. Enditem
