Baghdad, Apr 10 (IANS): A member of the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces and a villager were killed, and four villagers wounded Saturday in an attack by militants of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group in Iraqi northern province of Kirkuk, a local police source said.

The attack took place in the evening when the IS militants opened fire on a village near the town of al-Rashad, some 250 km north of Baghdad, Major Abbas al-Obaidi from the Kirkuk police was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

Paramilitary Hashd Shaabi members in the village teamed up with armed villagers to fight the attackers, who fled the scene after reinforcement troops arrived, al-Obaidi said.

There are no immediate reports about the casualties among the attackers, he added.

Over the past few months, Iraqi security forces have carried out deadly attacks against IS militants to crack down on their intensified activities.

The security situation in Iraq has improved after Iraqi forces defeated the IS in 2017. Yet the IS remnants have since melted into urban centers, deserts, and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.