Baghdad, Jul 18 (IANS): An Iraqi soldier and a militant of the Islamic State (IS) group were killed in two incidents in the central and northern parts of the country, the Iraqi military said.

Acting on intelligence reports, a joint force from the Army and a paramilitary Hashd Shaabi shot dead an IS militant wearing an explosive belt in the Tarmiyah area, nearly 30-km north of the capital Baghdad, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said on Sunday in a statement.

In a separate incident on Sunday, a soldier was killed and another wounded in an attack by IS militants on an army base near the city of Mosul, nearly 400-km north of Baghdad, an army source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The source said the attack sparked a clash between the two sides before the attackers fled the scene, Xinhua news agency reported.

Iraqi security forces have been fighting IS militants over the past months to crack down on their intensified activities.

The security situation in Iraq has been improving since the defeat of the IS in 2017. However, its remnants have since melted into urban centres, deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against the security forces and civilians.