Daesh attack kills over dozen people in northern Iraq

At least three civilians and 10 Iraqi peshmerga fighters have been killed in northern Iraq's Makhmour town in an attack blamed on Daesh.

Daesh attacked the village of Khidir Jija, south of Arbil, late Thursday, killing three civilians, a statement said.

The peshmerga, armed forces for Kurd-run north, launched an operation in response, and seven fighters died when "an explosive device planted by Daesh elements" blew up.

The three civilians, siblings aged 11-24, were children of a village official, a relative told AFP news agency.

READ MORE: Daesh bomb targets Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq

Late last month, five Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters were killed and four wounded in a roadside bombing claimed by Daesh.

That bombing, south of the city of Sulaimaniyah, underlined the "serious threat" Daesh still poses to Iraq's Kurd-run region, the region's prime minister Masrour Barzani said at the time.

Daesh seized swathes of Iraq in a lightning offensive in 2014, before being beaten back by a counter-insurgency campaign supported by a US-led military coalition.

The Iraqi government declared Daesh's defeat in late 2017, but they retain sleeper cells which continue to strike security forces with hit-and-run attacks.

READ MORE: Several killed in 'Daesh ambush' in Iraq's Baghdad