Iraqi security forces hunt down IS militants in eastern Iraq

Baghdad, Au. 7 (UNI/Xinhua) The Iraqi security forces on Saturday launched an operation to hunt down militants of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq’s eastern province of Diyala, a provincial police source said.
Based on intelligence reports, a joint force from the provincial police and Sunni tribal fighters launched the operation in areas north of the town of al-Muqdadiya, some 100 km northeast of the capital Baghdad, Nihad al-Mahdawi, head of Diyala police media office, said.
The operation aimed to clear rural areas in the north of Maqdadiyah from IS militants and destroy their hideouts, al-Mahdawi said.