Six dead in IS attacks on security forces in northern Iraq

Islamic State group attacks on security forces north of the Iraqi capital killed six of their members overnight, officials said Thursday.

Three policemen and two members of the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force died in an attack on a checkpoint south of the city of Tikrit, a security official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The attack sparked a three-hour gunbattle, he said. Some 300 kilometres (180 miles) to the east, in the Khanaqin area, the jihadist group fired mortars at a post held by the Asayish security force of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, a Kurdish official said.

An Asayish member was killed in an hour-long battle before the assailants fled, local commander Naucherwan Ahmed said.

Iraq formally declared victory against IS in late 2017, but sleeper cells have kept up hit-and-run attacks in remote areas, targeting checkpoints, public infrastructure and local officials.