Baghdad [Iraq], January 24 (ANI/Xinhua): The casualty toll from overnight attack by Islamic State (IS) terrorists on a paramilitary Hashd Shaabi force in Iraq's Salahudin province stands at 11, the Hashd Shaabi said on Sunday.

The attack took place on Saturday night when IS terrorists, including suicide bombers, tried to take control of an important outpost in the al-Eith area in eastern the province, but was repelled by Hashd Shaabi members, a statement by the Hashd Shaabi said.

The casualty toll of the battle ended with the killing of 11 Hashd Shaabi members and the wounding of 12 others, the statement said.

It also said that Hussein Saiydan, known as Abu Alyaa al-Husseini, commander of third Battalion of the Hashd Shaabi's 22nd Brigade, was among the killed.

Late on Saturday, Col. Mohammed al-Bazi from Salahudin provincial police told Xinhua that IS militants attacked the outposts of Hashd Shaabi's 22nd Brigade in the eastern part of the province.

There were no immediate reports about casualties of the extremist militants.

The attack came as the IS militants intensified attacks on the security forces, including Hashd Shaabi forces, and civilians in the formerly IS-controlled Sunni provinces in Iraq.

The extremist group has claimed Thursday's twin suicide bombings in a bustling outdoor market in downtown Baghdad that killed 32 and wounded more than 100 others.

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

However, IS remnants have since melted in urban areas or deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. (ANI/Xinhua)