BAQUBA, Iraq, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Four Islamic State (IS) militants were killed Tuesday in two incidents in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, a provincial police source said.
Acting on intelligence tips, a joint army and paramilitary Hashd Shaabi fighters surrounded two suicide bombers at an abandoned house at a village located some 70 km northeast of Baquba, said Maj. Ali al-Timimi from the police of the provincial capital Baquba.
A fierce clash erupted between the two sides, and the suicide bombers were killed after detonating their explosive vests, Timimi said.
In a separate incident, a police force clashes with IS militants in Imam Weis area, some 50 northeast of Baquba, leaving two IS militants killed and three policemen wounded.
Despite repeated military operations in Diyala province, remnants of IS militants were still hiding in rugged areas near the border with Iran in eastern Diyala, as well as the sprawling areas extending from western part of the province to Himreen mountainous area in north Baquba, which itself located some 65 km northeast of Bagdad.
The militants are still capable of carrying out attacks against civilians and the security forces despite operations from time to time to hunt them down.
