BAQUBA, Iraq, July 29 (Xinhua) -- At least four Islamic State (IS) militants and one paramilitary fighter were killed on Saturday when the extremist militants attacked a paramilitary base in eastern Iraq, a provincial security source told Xinhua.
The paramilitary Hashd Shaabi unit fought fierce clashes with the attackers in Baquba in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, located some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity.
Another Hashd Shaabi member was wounded in the clashes, while the paramilitary fighters seized weapons and ammunition belonging to IS militants who fled the scene, the source said.
IS militants frequently attack the urban areas of the province using the sprawling rugged area in northwestern Diyala, which also extends to the main IS redoubt in Mteibijah at the provincial border line with the neighboring Salahudin province.
Many blame the current chronic instability, cycle of violence, and the emergence of extremist groups, such as the IS, on the United States, which invaded and occupied Iraq in March 2003.
