Seven people have been killed in three attacks in the northern outskirts of the Iraqi capital, security sources said Sunday, despite the army recently declaring the area swept of jihadists.

The overnight attacks Saturday into Sunday targeted the homes of tribal fighters belonging to the powerful Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force, as well as army barracks, in the Sunni suburb of Tarmiya, the sources said.

The Tribal Hashed is composed largely of Sunni fighters and feeds into the broader Shiite-dominated Hashed al-Shaabi, which fought back the Islamic State group with Iraqi troops.

Tarmiya has long been a bastion of Sunni extremist groups and IS sleeper cells have continued to operate in the area, according to the security sources.

"Unidentified gunmen attacked the home of a member of the Tribal Hashed, killing him, his wife, his son and mother," a police officer told AFP, asking to remain anonymous.

The officer said a separate attack overnight saw sniper fire hit an army barracks, killing two members of the security forces.

And at dawn on Sunday, another attack targeted a Tribal Hashed member's home, killing one, he added.

On Sunday afternoon, security forces announced they had killed one would-be suicide bomber in a village in the Tarmiya region.

For weeks this summer, Iraqi forces — the army, police and the Hashed — combed the orchards around Tarmiya for IS sleeper cells.

In July, they declared the operation a success after arresting several alleged IS members.

IS overran large parts of Iraq and neighbouring Syria in 2014, declaring a "caliphate" in areas they controlled.

Iraq in late 2017 declared victory against IS but the group's disparate network of undercover fighters still carries out deadly attacks across the country.

On Friday, an attack claimed by IS killed 12 people on the edge of Karbala, as the Shiite holy city prepares to receive millions of pilgrims next month.

IS claims blast that killed 12 near Iraq's Karbala
Baghdad (AFP) Sept 21, 2019 –

The Islamic State group on Saturday claimed a bomb blast that killed 12 people near the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Karbala the previous day.

The blast aboard a bus at a checkpoint north of Karbala also wounded five people, according to the city's health authorities.

Security forces said Saturday they had arrested a man suspected of placing the explosives on the bus before it disembarked.

Iraq declared victory against IS in late 2017 after three years of a brutal fightback against the extremist Sunni group, which had specifically targeted Shiite gatherings.

Jihadist sleeper cells have continued to carry out hit-and-run attacks against government positions across the country, particularly at checkpoints, but attacks targeting Shiite religious gatherings had been rare in recent years.

The deadliest incident this year was a stampede earlier this month in Karbala that left more than 30 pilgrims dead and dozens injured.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from Iraq, Iran and as far as India had been gathering in the southern city this month to mark the Shiite holy day of Ashura.

Iraq is expecting millions more Shiite pilgrims to arrive at the end of October for the annual Arbaeen commemoration, which marks the end of the 40-day mourning period for the seventh-century killing of Imam Hussein by the forces of the Caliph Yazid.