BAGHDAD, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces said Saturday that a leading figure of the Islamic State (IS), working as a coordinator for the extremist group outside Iraq, was captured in northern Iraq.

A paramilitary force, affiliated with the Hashd Shaabi Operations Command of Nineveh province, conducted an operation that resulted in the arrest of the leading militant in the provincial capital of Mosul, the forces said in a statement without giving further details.

In a separate incident, a Hashd Shaabi intelligence force in cooperation with the Iraqi intelligence service captured an IS militant in al-Salamiyah refugee camp in the west of Mosul. The militant was planning to flee to nearby Syria, the Hashd Shaabi said in a separate statement.

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.