BAGHDAD, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces on Tuesday freed five civilians who were abducted by Islamic State (IS) militants in the western province of Anbar, a provincial security official said.
The four men were kidnapped four days ago by the extremist militants in a desert near the town of Rawa, some 280 km northwest of the capital Baghdad, according to Hussein al-Uqaidi, mayor of the town.
Their release came after an operation in the early morning hours in the nearby desert, al-Uqaidi said.
On Friday, a security official told Xinhua that IS militants kidnapped five civilians who were collecting truffles in the desert near Rawa.
Many civilians were recently kidnapped or killed by the IS militants, who are still active in the vast Anbar desert stretching to the border with neighboring countries of Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
The security situation in Iraq has been dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces declared full defeat of the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.
However, IS remnants have since melted or regrouped in cities or fled to desert and rugged areas, carrying out attacks against the security forces and civilians despite operations from time to time to hunt them down.
