At least five security members were killed and four others injured on Sunday in a car bomb explosion in Iraq’s western province of Anbar, reports Xinhua citing local officials.

The blast took place in an area in the west of the town of Haditha, 200 km northwest of the capital Baghdad, when a joint force of the Iraqi army and tribal fighters came close to a suspected car to check it, said Mabrouk Hameed, mayor of Haditha.

The explosion killed a soldier and four tribal fighters, all from the government-backed Hashd Shaabi forces.

The incident occurred when the joint force was conducting a search campaign in the area, he added.

During the past months, the militants of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group have increased their attacks against the Iraqi security forces in the Sunni provinces which were once seized by the militants, leaving dozens killed and wounded.

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

However, IS remnants have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.