BAQUBA, Iraq, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Three Islamic State (IS) militants were killed and four wounded Wednesday in an airstrike in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, a provincial security source said.

The Iraqi aircraft bombarded in the evening IS hideouts at an orchard in a village named Mkheisa, some 25 km northeast of the provincial capital Baquba, destroying the hideouts, killing at least three militants and wounding four others, Awad al-Rubaie, head of the provincial security committee council told Xinhua.

Iraqi security forces surrounded the village and the nearby dense orchards looking for more suspected militants, Rubaie said.

Despite repeated military operations in Diyala province, remnants of IS militants were still hiding in rugged areas near the border with Iran in eastern Diyala, as well as the sprawling areas extending from western part of the province to Himreen mountainous area.

The militants are still capable of carrying out attacks against civilians and the security forces despite operations from time to time to hunt them down.