US-led airstrike kills 3 IS militants in northern Iraq

Acting on intelligence reports from the federal police in Kirkuk, the US-led airstrike was conducted on an IS hideout in the area of Wadi Zghaytoun in the south the city of Kirkuk, some 250 km north of the capital Baghdad, the media office of the Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

The airstrike resulted in the destruction of the hideout, the statement added.

Separately in Diyala Province, a civilian was killed when IS militants opened fire on the residents of the village of Mkheisa, some 95 km northeast of Baghdad, Alaa al-Saadi from the provincial police told Xinhua.

Also in the province, two civilians were wounded in a roadside bomb explosion on the edges of the city of Jalawla, some 135 km northeast of Baghdad, al-Saadi said, adding the roadside bomb was apparently planted by IS militants.

Despite repeated military operations in Diyala, some IS militants are still hiding in some rugged areas near the border with Iran, and in the sprawling areas extending from the western part of the province to the Himreen mountain range in the northern part of the province.

The security situation in Iraq was dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.
IS remnants, however, have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas as safe havens, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.