BAGHDAD  – Iraqi air force killed 10 Islamic State (IS) militants and destroyed their hideouts by two airstrikes in the Iraqi provinces of Diyala and Salahudin, the Iraqi military said on Sunday.

In Salahudin province, the Iraqi aircraft destroyed two IS hideouts and three of their trenches, leaving 10 IS militants killed in Gan’ous village near the town of Shirqat, some 280 km north of Baghdad, Spokesman of the
Iraqi Joint Operations Command, Yahya Rasoul, said in a statement.

In Diyala province, the Iraqi aircraft bombed an IS hideout and four motorcycles in Himreen mountainous area in northern part of the province, Rasoul said without mentioning when the airstrikes took place.

The Iraqi forces, backed by Iraqi aircrafts, are carrying continuing reconnaissance and surveillance in different areas in central Iraq to track the extremist IS militants and destroy their locations.

The security situation in Iraq has been dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.

However, small groups of IS militants have since regrouped in desert and rugged areas, carrying out attacks against security forces and civilians despite the military operations from time to time to hunt them down.