BAGHDAD, June 17 (Xinhua) -- A total of 16 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Monday in an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition aircraft in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, the Iraqi military said.
Acting on intelligence reports from Nineveh's Operations Command, the U.S.-led coalition aircraft carried out an airstrike on an IS tunnel in the area of Wadi al-Gissab, south of the provincial capital Mosul, said a statement by the media office of the Joint Operations Command.
The airstrike resulted in the killing of 16 IS militants, according to the statement.
The security situation in Iraq was dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.
IS remnants, however, have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas as safe havens, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.
