2 policemen, one civilian killed in attacks in eastern Iraq

BAQUBA, Iraq, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Two policemen and a civilian were killed and eight other people injured on Wednesday in bomb and gunfire attacks, mainly targeting security forces, in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, a provincial official and a security source said.

In one of the attacks, two policemen were killed and seven others wounded when a roadside bomb went off near their patrol in Tubaj area, some 80 km north of the provincial capital Baquba, said Sadiq al-Husseini, head of the provincial council's security committee, told Xinhua.

The police patrol was securing the newly-liberated villages from Islamic State (IS) militants in the areas north of Baquba, which itself located some 65 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Husseini said.

In a separate incident, unidentified gunmen shot dead a civilian at a village in northeast of Baquba, before they fled the scene, a security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Also in the province, a policeman was wounded when unknown armed men opened fire on him at checkpoint outside a village in northeast of Baquba, the source said.

Despite repeated military operations in Diyala province, remnants of IS militants were still hiding in rugged areas near the border with Iran in eastern part of the province, as well as the sprawling areas in northern and western Diyala.

On Dec. 9, 2017, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi officially declared full liberation of Iraq from IS militants after Iraqi forces recaptured all the areas once seized by the extremist group.

Nevertheless, small groups and individuals of IS militants are still capable of carrying out attacks from time to time. Enditem