BAGHDAD, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Iraq's paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) said early Wednesday that three Islamic State (IS) militants, including a prominent local leader, were killed during an operation in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh.

According to a PMF statement, a unit from its 60th Brigade carried out the task in the al-Baaj desert in the western part of the province in retaliation for recent deaths of Iraq's counter-terrorism troops.

The PMF said one of the killed was an IS leader responsible for the group's logistics in the Hatra and al-Baaj areas.

On May 24, the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service said that three of its members were killed, four others wounded by an explosive device placed by the IS militant group in Nineveh.

After Iraq declared victory over the IS in 2017, the group's remnants keep attacking security forces and civilians in cities, deserts and remote areas. Authorities have since intensified aerial and ground campaigns against IS militants. ■