8 Iraqi soldiers killed in IS attack near Iraq's Tikrit

Islamic State (IS) militants attacked an army base and police station at a village in Iraq's Salahudin province, killing 8 soldiers killed, including a senior officer, a provincial security source told Xinhua on Friday.

The attack occurred after midnight when the extremist militants attacked the headquarters of East Tigris Operations Command and a nearby police station in the village of Abu Dalaf near the town of Dour, which itself located some 170 km north of Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The attackers first seized several buildings in the headquarters and the police station after heavy clashes with the troops and set fire to the police building and their vehicles before they fled the scene, the source said.

In the early morning, reinforcement troops and army helicopter gunships arrived to the scene and drove out the militants, destroying four of their vehicles, the source said, adding that at least six militants were also killed by the clashes.

Major General Ali al-Mussawi, Commander of East Tigris Operations Command was among the wounded by the attack, the source said.

The government forces are in control of the situation in the town of Dour and the nearby village after defeating the extremist militants, he said.

The attack comes as the Iraqi government forces backed by anti-IS coalition are carrying out a major offensive to drive out the IS militants from its last major stronghold in and around Mosul in northern Iraq. Endit