BAGHDAD, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units on Saturday killed a suicide bomber in the city of Tikrit, the units said in a statement.
Based on intelligence reports, the Hashd Shaabi force spotted a suicide bomber wearing explosive vest at a popular market in central the city if Tikrit, and shot him dead before detonating himself in the crowded market, the units said in a statement.
The paramilitary units intensified security measures in Tikrit and deployed in the main streets for fear of further attacks by the sleeper cells of the extremist Islamic State (IS) militants, the statement said.
Also in the province, the paramilitary units in coordination with the army's helicopter gunships pounded IS post in Zuwiyah area, some 250 km north of Baghdad, and destroyed four car bombs, the units said in a separate statement.
Iraqi security forces and allied paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units freed Tikrit and other key cities and towns in the predominately Sunni Arab province of Salahudin from the extremist IS group which seized large part of the province in June 2014.
The incidents came as the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared Mosul's liberation on July 10 after nearly nine months of fierce fighting to dislodge the extremist militants from their last major stronghold in Iraq.
