BAGHDAD, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Three Iraqi soldiers and a civilian were killed while several others were wounded in two roadside bomb attacks by Islamic State (IS) militants in central and northern Iraq on Wednesday, security sources said.
A roadside bomb detonated near the army patrol in a village of the Tarmiyah area, some 30 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, killing a regiment commander and two soldiers of the Iraqi ground forces, said the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command.
It said that the blast also wounded an officer and two soldiers. Tarmiyah's police officer Hussein Abbas told Xinhua that the military has carried out a search campaign in the nearby orchards looking for the attackers.
In another attack near the northern city of Mosul, a roadside bomb planted by IS militants in a village killed one man and injured two of his family members, a source from Mosul police told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Over the past months, Iraqi security forces have conducted operations against extremist militants to crack down on their intensified activities.
The security situation in Iraq has been improving since the defeat of the IS in 2017. However, its remnants have since melted into urban centers, deserts, and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. ■
