BAGHDAD:  According to a provincial official and a police source, a total of six people were killed and five wounded in attacks by militants of the Islamic States  group in Kirkuk and Diyala  province.

IS militants used a dust storm that swept through most of Iraq earlier on Monday to set fire to a wheat farm in the Taza area outside Kirkuk's eponymous provincial capital Kirkuk, some 250 kilometres north of Baghdad, as per reprots, quoting Taza Mayor Hussein Adil.

The fire caused a joint squad of Iraqi police and paramilitary Hashd Shaabi fighters to hurry to the farm to put out the fire, but extreme IS militants opened fire, killing three police officers and two locals, according to Adil.  The extremist militants also exploded a roadside bomb near a police vehicle, causing damage but no injuries, according to the mayor.  He stated that the attackers fled the site after reinforced troops arrived.

IS terrorists raided a village in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala in the evening near the town of Jalawlaa, about 135 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, killing one villager and wounded five others, including three women, according to Major Alaa al-Saadi of the provincial police.  Iraqi security forces have conducted operations against extremist terrorists in recent months to combat their increased activity.

Since 2017, the security situation in Iraq has improved. IS remnants, on the other hand, have disappeared into metropolitan centres, deserts, and harsh areas, launching guerilla strikes against security personnel and civilians on a regular basis.

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