BAGHDAD, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Two villagers were killed and four wounded Wednesday in a mortar shelling on a village in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, a provincial police source said.

A barrage of mortar rounds landed on houses in al-Jadida Village in south of the provincial capital Baquba, which is located some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, Major Alaa al-Saadi, from Diyala's police command, told Xinhua.

The shelling resulted in severe damages in the houses, leaving two villagers killed and four others injured, al-Saadi said.

Iraqi security forces launched a search campaign looking for the attackers who fled their positions immediately after the attack, he added.

In December 2017, Iraq declared full liberation from the IS after the security forces and the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units, backed by the anti-IS international coalition, recaptured all areas once seized by the extremist group.

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