Baghdad, Mar 12: Iraqi security forces killed four Islamic State (IS) militants in an operation in a desert area in central Iraq, the Iraqi military said.
Paramilitary fighters from local tribal forces affiliated with the Iraqi Hashd Shaabi forces chased a pickup truck carrying four IS militants and clashed with them in the Tharthar desert, destroying the truck and killing all militants aboard, including one wearing an explosive belt, according to a statement on Sunday from the Security Media Cell, a media outlet affiliated with the Iraqi Joint Operations Command.
The incident came as part of an operation conducted by the Iraqi army, police, and Hashd Shaabi forces to hunt down IS militants in the vast desert in the provinces of Salahudin, Nineveh, and Anbar, the statement said as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.