4 family members killed in IS mortar barrage in Iraq's Shirqat

Four civilians from one family were killed on Friday when a mortar barrage by Islamic State (IS) militants hit their house in the town of Shirqat in Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin, a provincial security source said.

IS militants fired several mortar rounds on the western side of Shirqat, some 180 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, from their stronghold in the eastern side of the town across the Tigris River, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The mortar barrage destroyed a house, and killed a man, his wife and two of their children, along with damaging several nearby houses, the source said.

In September last year, the security forces and allied Sunni and Shiite paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units retook control of the western bank of Shirqat, but left eastern side of the town in the hands of the extremist militants, as the troops continued their push northward to the IS major stronghold in Mosul.

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