BAGHDAD, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Seven members of a Kurdish security force, known as Peshmerga, were killed and two wounded on Saturday in an attack by militants of Islamic State (IS) group in the northern province of Kirkuk, a provincial police source said.

The attack took place at dawn when IS militants attacked the positions of Peshmerga near the namesake provincial capital Kirkuk, some 250 km north of the capital Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

An unknown number of IS militants were also killed by the fierce clash that followed, the source said, adding that Kurdish reinforcements arrived at the scene while the attackers withdrew to a nearby mountainous area.

The attack came hours after an overnight roadside bomb attack by IS militants on the Iraqi army in Tarmiyah area, some 30 km north of Baghdad. The bomb attack left four soldiers killed and two others wounded, according to a statement by the Iraqi Joint Operations Command.

The vast mountainous and rugged areas in the north of Baghdad have witnessed a surge in IS activities in the past months, despite repeated military operations to hunt down the militants.

The security situation in Iraq has been improving since Iraqi security forces fully defeated IS militants across the country late in 2017.

However, deadly incidents still occur sporadically in the war-ravaged country as IS remnants have since retreated into urban areas or deserts and rugged areas, waging frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. Enditem

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