36 killed in clashes with IS in Iraq

A total of 36 people were killed in attacks and clashes with the Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala Wednesday, security sources said.

Heavy clashes erupted when Iraqi security forces and Shia militias attacked IS militants hiding in Himreen mountainous area in northeast of Baquba, Diyala's provincial capital, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, leaving at least 20 IS militants dead, provincial police chief Jamil al-Shimary told Xinhua news agency.

The military operation in Himreen is based on intelligence reports that said dozens of IS militants were hiding in caves and narrow valleys after they were driven away from the villages of Mansouriyah area northeast of Baquba that were freed from the extremists in the major security offensives recently, al-Shimary said.

Separately, the security forces and Shia militias repelled an attack in the early hours of the day by the IS militants on the dam in Udhaim area, some 80 km north of Baquba, leaving at least nine IS militants dead, including two suicide bombers, head of the security committee of the provincial council, Sadiq al-Husseini, told Xinhua.

A soldier and two Shia militiamen were killed, while three soldiers and three militiamen were injured, al-Husseini said.

Also in the province, two suicide bombers wearing explosive vests were shot dead north of Baquba, while a police officer and a policeman were killed and two others were wounded when a booby-trapped house in Shirween area northeast of Baquba exploded when the police forces entered during a search operation, a provincial police source told Xinhua.

Diyala's attacks came two days after al-Shimary and Hadi al-Ameri, a leading figure in the powerful Shia party Badr Organization confirmed that the whole province was now freed from IS militants.

However, Ameri said that some IS militants were now separately hiding in some orchards and hideouts, "but they will be hunted down by the security forces."

On Friday, thousands of Iraqi army, police and Shia militia personnel backed by Iraqi aircraft launched a major offensive with the aim of ending the presence of extremist militants in the country's Diyala province.