7 Hashd Shaabi members killed in suicide attack in central Iraq

BAGHDAD - Seven paramilitary Hashd Shaabi members were killed and three others were injured Thursday in a suicide attack in the city of Samarra in Iraq's central province of Salahudin, the Iraqi military said.

A suicide bomber attacked a force of Hashd Shaabi's 313 Brigade in Samarra, some 120 km north of Baghdad, killing seven Hashd Shaabi members and injuring three others, the media office of Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

The statement gave no further details but said that more information was to be released later.

The Brigade is part of Saraya al-Salam, or Peace Companies, headed by the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The militia is stationed in Samarra to protect the holy Shiite shrine where tombs of two Imams are located.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. The Islamic State (IS) militant group, in most cases, was responsible for such attacks.

The security situation in Iraq has improved since Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.