TIKRIT, Iraq, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Unidentified drone bombed two houses in a town in Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin, leaving eight members of two families dead, a provincial security source told Xinhua.
The incident took place in the early morning when the drone dropped bombs on two houses and destroyed them in the town of Shirqat, about 280 km north of Iraqi capital Baghdad, killing the eight, including women and children, the source said on condition of anonymity.
The unmanned-plane mostly was sent by the Islamic State (IS) militants who are still seizing the east bank of Shirqat across the Tigris River, which bisects the town, the source said, adding that the incident is under investigation.
In September 2016, the Iraqi forces recaptured the western bank of Shirqat from IS militants during the troops' advance northward to dislodge IS militants from the northern province of Nineveh and its capital Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad.
The attack occurred as the Iraqi security forces backed by anti-IS international coalition are carrying out a major offensive to drive out the IS militants from their major stronghold in the western side of Mosul in northern Iraq.
