IS attack on Iraqi village kills 13

SULAIMANIYA, Dec 03 (Reuters): An attack by Islamic State (IS) militants on a village in northern Iraq on Friday killed three villagers and 10 Kurdish soldiers, officials in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region said.

The attack took place in the Makhmour region, a hotbed for Islamic State activity that sees regular attacks against Kurdish forces, Iraqi forces and often civilians.

Makhmour is a mountainous area about 70 km (45 miles) southeast of Mosul and 60 km of the Kurdish capital of Erbil.

Kurdistan's Prime Mini-ster Masrour Barzani called for greater security cooperation between Iraqi Kurdish and Iraqi security forces to stop Islamic State's insurgent activities.

Iraqi officials and analysts have long blamed a lack of coordination along a stretch of territory claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil for Islamic State's continued ability to wage deadly attacks. Islamic State controlled roughly a third of Iraq between 2014 and 2017, including the remote Makhmour region but also major cities including Mosul.

A loose coalition of US-led forces, Iraqi and Kurdish troops and Iran-backed Shi'ite militias defeated the Sunni Muslim extremist group in 2017.