World Bulletin / News Desk

Five ISIL militants were killed in an ambush in Iraq’s northern Kirkuk province on Sunday, according to a local police officer.

The militants were ambushed by Iraqi security forces while preparing to attack a village in the al-Rashad district, southwest of Kirkuk, Capt. Hamed al-Obaidi told Anadolu Agency.

He said several other militants had fled unscathed.

The ISIL terrorist group has carried out several attacks against civilian and military targets in Kirkuk in recent months.

Last December, officials in Baghdad declared that the ISIL's military presence in Iraq had been all but dismantled after a three-year war. However, from time to time, Iraqi officials announce operations against ISIL-affiliated "sleeper cells" in certain parts of the country.