BAGHDAD, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Three people were killed and five others injured in an attack by gunmen, believed to be Islamic State (IS) militants, on the house of a police officer in Iraq's central province of Salahudin, a provincial police source said on Wednesday.

The incident took place late on Tuesday night, when gunmen opened fire from their assault rifles on the house of Lt. Col. Wisam Mahmoud Hassan in the village of al-Mazarei, some 80 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, while the families of the officer and his neighbor were gathering at the garden of the officer's house, the source told Xinhua.

The attack resulted in the killing of three people, one was Hassan's brother and two from his neighbor's family, while five from both families wounded, the source said.

The gunmen, who believed to be the IS militants, fled the scene after the attack, the source added.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but IS militants, in most cases, have been responsible for such attacks targeting security forces and areas where crowds of civilians gather, including markets, cafes and mosques.

The security situation in Iraq has been improved since Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.

The IS remnants, however, have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.