9 killed by IS militants at fake checkpoint in Iraq

BAGHDAD, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Nine people were killed by the extremist Islamic State (IS) militants at a fake checkpoint near Iraqi ethnically mixed town of Tuz-Khurmato, a local security source said on Monday.

The incident took place late on Sunday night when IS militants intercepted several civilian cars at a fake checkpoint on the main road in north of the town of Tuz-Khurmato, some 90 km east of Salahudin's provincial capital Tikrit, a source from the local paramilitary Hashd Shaabi told Xinhua.

In one of the cars, the militants killed six family members and set fire to their car and the bodies inside, while three more people were killed and four others were seriously wounded in other cars, the source said.

During the past few months, dozens of IS militants fled their former urban strongholds in Mosul, Salahudin province and Hawijah area in the west of Kirkuk after the Iraqi forces cleared these areas during major anti-IS offensives.

However, remnants of IS militants resorted to hideouts in rugged areas near the rivers of Tigris and Zab, as well as Himreen mountainous areas to continue their almost daily attacks against civilians and Iraqi forces.

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.

However, small groups and individuals of IS militants are still capable of carrying out attacks against the security forces and civilians despite operations from time to time to hunt them down. Enditem