Baghdad, Sep 13 (IANS): Two army officers were killed and three soldiers wounded on Friday in an attack by the extremist Islamic State (IS) militants in the northern Iraqi province of Kirkuk, said a local security source.

The attack occurred in the morning when IS militants opened fire on a military patrol near the town of Dibis, northwest of the namesake provincial capital, Kirkuk, some 250 km north of the capital Baghdad, Salam al-Obaidi from Kirkuk police told Xinhua news agency.

Following the attack, a clash broke out between the two sides, during which a military vehicle was also damaged, al-Obaidi said.

He added that an Iraqi army force rushed to the scene and searched the area afterward to hunt down the attackers.

Also on Friday, the Iraqi military said it identified several senior IS leaders among the 14 militants it killed in an operation targeting IS hideouts in western Iraq's Anbar desert on Aug. 29.

According to a statement from the Security Media Cell, a media outlet affiliated with the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, DNA tests on the 14 dead bodies revealed that Ahmed Hamed Zwain, deputy of the IS group's top leader in Iraq, who was known by his nickname Abu Siddiq or Abu Muslim, and Abu Ali Al-Tunisi, head of weapons development and manufacturing for the IS, were among the victims.

The statement added the fatalities also included the leader of the group's southern region and its leadership chain in Anbar province, including local leader Abu Hammam and several other military, communications, and financial officials.

The security situation in Iraq has improved since the defeat of the IS in 2017. However, IS remnants have sneaked into urban centers, deserts, and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.