Iraqi army operation kills 8

Four Islamic State of Iraq and Levant-led (ISIL) militants and four other people have been killed during a military operation in the city of Fallujah, an Iraqi military official has told Anadolu Agency.

"An Iraqi artillery unit opened fire to a house where ISIL militants were meeting. During the operation, one militant and three aides were killed," General Rashid Falih, Al Anbar Operation Chief, said.

During the same operation, three people were killed and eight others wounded after artillery fire hit their house, said Visam Al Isavi, a Fallujah hospital official.

Iraq has been gripped by lawlessness and amid a recent increase in sectarian violence between the country's Sunni and Shia people.

The violence has escalated since early June after a coalition of armed insurgent groups led by ISIL took control of large swathes of the country's predominantly Sunni provinces.

The conflict between the army and militants entered a new stage last month when insurgents captured a number of key cities and towns in Iraq.

Iraqi army have staged military operations against ISIL-led militants.

On Saturday, six bodies belonging to Iraqi security units were pulled out of the Tigris River in northern city of Samarra, according to local council member Halid Casim.

More than a million people, including at least 60,000 Turkmen in the region, have fled their homes, according to the UN's humanitarian agency.

Meanwhile, Kurdish and Arab clans in the Iraqi city of Mosul have been trying to prevent people looting Turkmens' belongings.

Murtasa Musa, a human rights activist in the city, said clans have banned the sale of Turkmen's property.