BAGHDAD, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi soldiers killed nine militants of the Islamic State on Wednesday during an operation in the northern province of Kirkuk, the Iraqi military said.
Iraqi soldiers surrounded nine militants holed up in a tunnel in Kraw Mountain there, some 250 km north of Baghdad, bombed the tunnel and killed all the militants inside, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement.
Over the past few months, Iraqi security forces have carried out operations against the extremist militants to crack down on their intensified activities.
The security situation in Iraq has been improving since 2017. However, Islamic State remnants have melted into urban centers, deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. ■
