BAGHDAD, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Two fighters of the Iraqi paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces and a member of the Iraqi federal police were killed Saturday in two attacks by the Islamic State (IS) militants in the Salahudin province north of the capital Baghdad, a local source said.
In one attack, two Hashd Shaabi members were killed, and three others wounded when IS snipers opened fire on a checkpoint manned by the paramilitary forces near the al-Zerga bridge between the town of Tuz-Khurmato and the provincial capital of Tikrit, Mohammed al-Bazi from the media office of the provincial police command said.
Afterward, Iraqi security forces carried out a search campaign in the area for the attackers, al-Bazi told Xinhua.
Also on the day, a member of Iraqi federal police was killed when IS militants attacked a police outpost near the city of Samarra, some 120 km north of Baghdad, al-Bazi added.
The security situation in Iraq has improved since the defeat of the IS in 2017. However, IS remnants have melted into urban centers, deserts, and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. ■
