World Bulletin / News Desk
ISIL militants opened fire on a security checkpoint manned by members of al-Hashd al-Ashaairi – a pro-government Sunni militia -- in Bayji district, 25 km southwest of Kirkuk city, Capt. Hamid al-Obeidi, said.
“Three Sunni fighters were injured in the attack,” al-Obeidi told Anadolu Agency.
As medics rushed to the scene to help the injured, a bomb exploded, killing two people and injuring ten others, he said.
In a separate incident, al-Obeidi said a civilian was shot dead by suspected ISIL militants in Al-Askari district, southeast of Kirkuk.
Last December, officials in Baghdad declared that the ISIL terrorist group's military presence in Iraq had been all but dismantled after a three-year war.
However, from time to time, Iraqi officials announce operations against ISIL-affiliated "sleeper cells" in certain parts of the country.