BAGHDAD, July 19 (Xinhua) -- A total of 10 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Friday in an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition aircraft in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, the Iraqi military said.

Acting on intelligence reports, the coalition aircraft attacked an IS hideout at a desert in al-Baaj area near the border with Syria, the media office of the Joint Operations Command said in a brief statement.

The airstrike resulted in the killing of 10 extremist IS militants and the destruction of their hideout and their vehicle, the statement added.

The security situation in Iraq was dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.

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