Suspected ISIL militants raided the town of Ashkej, southwest of the northern Nineveh province, and shot dead four civilians, Hawwas Nayef, a commander of the pro-government Hashd al-Ashaeri militia, told Anadolu Agency. 

He said the militants had fled toward the desert following the attack. 

Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces killed three ISIL militants in an ambush 80 kilometers east of Baquba, the provincial capital of the eastern Diyala province, Police Captain Habib al-Shimari said. 

Last December, officials in Baghdad declared that ISIL's military presence in Iraq had been all but dismantled over operations backed by the U.S.-led International Alliance. However, from time to time, Iraqi officials announce operations against ISIL-affiliated "sleeper cells" in certain parts of the country.