Eight soldiers killed in clashes with IS militants in Iraq's Salahudin

Eight soldiers were killed and 10 wounded on Monday in clashes with Islamic State (IS) militants during a military operation in the northern part of the Iraqi central province of Salahudin, a provincial security source told Xinhua.

The clashes occurred in the afternoon when the security forces attacked IS positions in villages scattered on the eastern bank of the Tigris River in Shirqat area, some 280 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source said without giving further details about the casualty among the extremist militants.

Meanwhile, the U.S.-led warplanes attacked a vehicle carrying IS militants in east of Shirqat, killing the five militants aboard, the source said.

The security forces have launched an operation during the past few days to clear the part of Shirqat on the east bank of the river from IS militants as well as many other villages at the adjacent vast rural area.

Late in September, the security forces and allied tribal fighters retook control of the town of Shirqat, which located on the western bank of Tigris River.

The liberation of Shirqat was part of a major offensive to liberate the IS stronghold in Mosul, the capital of Iraq's northern province of Nineveh.

The Sunni-dominated province of Salahudin has witnessed a series of deadly attacks since security forces and allied paramilitary units, known as Hashd Shaabi, retook the province from IS militants who seized a large part of it in June 2014. Endit