BAGHDAD, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Three Islamic State (IS) militants were killed Wednesday in an airstrike in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, the Iraqi military said.
Acting on intelligence reports, the Iraqi army's helicopter gunships pounded the IS positions at the bank of Himreen Lake in the northeastern part of Diyala province, Yahya Rasoul, spokesman of the Iraqi Joint Operations command, said in a brief statement.
According to Rasoul, the airstrike resulted in the killing of three IS militants, the destruction of two boats, a vehicle and a motorcycle, as well as destroying four IS hideouts and a cache of weapons.
Despite repeated military operations in Diyala, some IS militants are still hiding in some rugged areas near the border with Iran, and in the sprawling areas extending from the western part of the province to the Himreen mountain range in the northern part of the province.
The security situation in Iraq was dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.
