BAGHDAD, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Two security members and an Islamic State (IS) militant were killed Saturday in two incidents in central and western Iraq, security sources said.
In Iraq's central province of Salahudin, IS militants attacked a joint patrol for federal police and paramilitary tribal fighters in Yathrib area, some 80 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, leaving a police officer and a tribal fighter killed and a policeman wounded, Col. Mohammed al-Bazi, from Salahudin's provincial police, told Xinhua.
Reinforcement troops arrived at the scene and launched a search campaign to track the attackers, al-Bazi said.
In Iraq's western province of Anbar, an army brigade, backed by police commando regiment, carried out an operation against a group of IS militants in al-Hareijiah area, in northeast of the provincial capital city of Ramadi, which is located some 110 km west of Baghdad, Col. Malik Obeid, leader of the commando regiment, told Xinhua.
A fierce clash erupted between the two sides, killing an IS militant and capturing another after wounding him, Obeid said.
In December 2017, Iraq declared full liberation from the IS after the security forces and the Hashd Shaabi units, backed by the anti-IS international coalition, recaptured all areas once seized by the extremist group.
However, IS remnants have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas as safe havens, carrying out guerrilla attacks from time to time against the security forces and civilians.
