BAGHDAD, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Six militants of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group were killed in airstrikes on Sunday in Iraq's Kirkuk province, while four federal police members were killed earlier in an overnight IS attack in the province, the Iraqi military said.
A fierce clash erupted earlier in the day when IS militants attacked the positions of the federal police in Kirkuk province, but the security forces sent a drone on a reconnaissance mission to the scene and spotted the attackers, enabling the Iraqi warplanes to conduct three airstrikes on IS positions, a statement by the media office of Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said.
Also in the province, another IS attack took place late on Saturday night, targeting the federal police positions near the town of Daqouq in the south of the namesake provincial capital Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, Major Abbas al-Taie from the federal police told Xinhua.
The attack sparked heavy clashes between the two sides, killing four federal police members and wounding three others, al-Taie said.
Over the past few months, IS militants have intensified attacks on Iraqi security forces in the provinces where the militants previously controlled, leaving dozens dead and wounded.
The security situation in Iraq has been improving since Iraqi security forces defeated IS militants in 2017.
However, IS remnants have since melted into urban centers or deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.
