Iraq's ministry of defence said that an officer and several members of his regiment were killed "while thwarting a terrorist attack".

"Daesh terrorists launched an attack" on an army post in the village of Mtebija "killing four soldiers and the regiment commander," said a security source, using an alternate name for the Islamic State group.

The jihadist group overran large swathes of Iraq and neighbouring Syria in 2014, proclaiming its "caliphate" and launching a reign of terror.

It was defeated in Iraq in 2017 by Iraqi forces backed by a US-led military coalition, and in 2019 lost the last territory it held in Syria to US-backed Kurdish forces.

But its remnants continue to carry out deadly hit-and-run attacks and ambushes, particularly from remote areas and desert hideouts.

In a report published in January, the United Nations said IS has "between 3,000 and 5,000 fighters" across Iraq and Syria.