By Mohamed Walid

NINEVEH, Iraq

Seven pro-government fighters were killed in a Daesh attack in northern Iraq on Monday, according to a local police officer.

Daesh militants attacked a house where the Sunni fighters were meeting in the town of Mukeshefah, southwest of Mosul, Maj. Sabhan Matar told Anadolu Agency.

Another fighter was injured in the attack.

Matar said the attackers had seized the weapons of the victims before fleeing the scene.

Monday’s attack came a day after the Hashd al-Shaabi, a pro-government Shia militia, pulled out from the area.

Last year, officials in Baghdad declared that Daesh's military presence in Iraq had been all but dismantled following a three-year war with the Iraqi armed forces.

Nevertheless, the notorious terrorist group appears to maintain active "sleeper cells" in certain parts of the country.