BAGHDAD, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Seven militants of the Islamic State (IS) group were killed on Monday in U.S.-led coalition airstrikes on an IS hideout in Iraq's northern province of Kirkuk, the Iraqi military said.
Based on intelligence reports, the international coalition aircraft conducted eight airstrikes 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.
An Iraqi army force was sent to the scene and found bodies of seven militants, in addition to two explosive belts, ammunition, and weapons caches, the JOC statement said.
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
