14 IS militants killed in N Iraq

BAGHDAD, June 24 (Xinhua): Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) backed by the US-led coalition aircraft on Monday killed 14 Islamic State (IS) militants in an operation in Iraq's northern province of Kirkuk, the Iraqi military said.

A force from the CTS in coordination with the international coalition aircraft conducted an operation to hunt down IS remnants in south of the provincial capital city of Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, the media office of the Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

The operation resulted in the killing of 14 IS militants, the statement said without giving further details.

The security situation in Iraq was dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.

However, despite repeated military operations in rural and rugged areas in central and northern the country, some IS militants are still active there and are carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.