BAGHDAD, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- At least two Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Saturday in a security operation and an airstrike by international coalition aircraft in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, the Iraqi military said.

An Iraqi security force from Nineveh Operations Command carried out an operation in the rugged area, known as Ganous, in the southern part of the province and killed two IS militants, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.

Unknown number of IS militants were also killed in the same area by an airstrike of the international coalition aircraft, the statement said without giving further details.

Earlier in the day, the U.S.-led coalition announced in a brief statement the death of a U.S. service member in a combat mission in Nineveh province, but it is not clear yet whether the U.S. casualty occurred in the same operation.

Over 5,000 U.S. troops have been deployed in Iraq to support the Iraqi forces in the battles against IS militant group, mainly by providing training and advising services.

The security situation in Iraq was dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.

IS remnants, however, have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas as safe havens, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. Enditem

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