BAGHDAD, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- A total of 12 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Monday in clashes with Iraqi army in the north and east of Iraqi capital Baghdad, security sources said.
In the northern central province of Salahudin, a paramilitary Hashd Shaabi brigade repelled an IS offensive in the south of the city of Tuz-Khurmato, some 180 km north of Baghdad.
The battle had left six IS militants dead, a provincial security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Salahudin's authorities frequently warned of IS attacks on the cities and villages of the province using the sprawling rugged area that extends from the western Salahudin to the desert in the neighboring Anbar province.
Similar rugged areas extend from the eastern Salahudin to the neighboring province of Diyala.
In Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, a joint army and Hashd Shaabi forces clashed with IS militants in Sarha area, some 80 km north of the provincial capital city of Baquba, killing six IS militants, an anonymous provincial security source told Xinhua.
