DIYALA, Iraq

Iraqi forces have killed six Daesh militants in a security swoop in the northern Diyala province, according to a local police officer on Monday.

Capt. Habib al-Shemari said a number of Daesh militants had sneaked into Sarha town in northern Diyala late Sunday after fleeing Hawija district in southwestern Kirkuk.

“Security forces launched a swoop in the area, killing six militants and are hunting down others,” he said.

After overrunning vast territories in both Iraq and Syria in 2014, Daesh has recently suffered a string of major defeats at the hands of the Iraqi army and a U.S.-led coalition.

In August, the terrorist group lost Tal Afar in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province. And one month earlier, the city of Mosul -- once the capital of Daesh’s self-proclaimed “caliphate” -- fell to the Iraqi army following a nine-month campaign.

Reporting by Hussein al-Amir:Writing by Mahmoud Barakat