BAGHDAD, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Four Islamic State (IS) militants and a policeman were killed on Saturday in separate incidents in the Iraqi provinces of Kirkuk and Diyala, security source said.
In the northern province of Kirkuk, a joint force from the federal police and paramilitary Hashd Shaabi carried out a raid on an IS hideout at a village in the south of the namesake provincial capital Kirkuk, some 250 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Abbas al-Obaidi from Kirkuk police told Xinhua.
The troops surrounded the hideout and fought a three-hour clash with the extremist militants, which resulted in the killing of four IS militants, al-Obaidi said.
In Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, a policeman was killed in a sniper shot while he was manning a checkpoint at a village in the northeast of the provincial capital Baquba, about 65 km northeast of Baghdad, Alaa al-Saadi from Diyala provincial police told Xinhua.
The incident is under investigation, al-Saadi said, adding that in most cases IS militants are behind such attacks.
Also in the province, two army officers and three soldiers were wounded when a roadside bomb struck their patrol near the town of Maqdadiyah, some 40 km northeast of Baquba, al-Saadi said.
Two more soldiers and three civilians were also wounded in separate attacks in the province, al-Saadi added.
The security situation in Iraq has been improved since Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.
However, IS remnants have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.
