Iraqi security forces on Thursday arrested eight militants of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group, including a local leader, in separate anti-terror operations, the Iraqi military said.

In Iraq's western province of Anbar, a commando force from the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) arrested an IS local leader in the city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.

According to intelligence reports, the local leader is responsible for the coordination of the extremist group's activities in the provinces of Anbar and Kirkuk, the statement added.

Moreover, the CTS forces captured seven IS militants in separate operations in the provinces of Anbar, Kirkuk, and Nineveh, said Yahia Rasoul, the spokesperson for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces.

Rasoul revealed that five of the arrested militants were captured in Anbar, one each in Kirkuk and Nineveh.

The security situation in Iraq has been improving since the Iraqi forces defeated IS in 2017.

However, IS remnants have since melted into urban centers, deserts, and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.

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