At least 25 civilians and members of government forces have been killed in northern Iraq since late Sunday in attacks by the Daesh terror group, officials said.

The terrorists killed 15 civilians after setting up a fake checkpoint on the Kirkuk-Baghdad Highway in eastern Iraq, a police officer told French Press Agency.

Captain Habib al-Shamri from the police department of Diyala Governorate told Anadolu Agency that Daesh terrorists stopped some civilian vehicles at a fake checkpoint and opened fire at the passengers.

Shamir said adding that the wounded were dispatched to hospital. He noted that the terrorists escaped from the region after the attack.

That attack took place on the outskirts of Amerli in the province of Kirkuk, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Baghdad.

Daesh's "sleeper cells" in Iraq sometimes launch raids on the strategic road linking Baghdad to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

In a separate attack, three people were killed while driving a car further north near the city of Daquq, said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"The attackers then burned the car," he said.

In a village of Niniveh province, seven others including the mayor were killed by armed men in military uniform, local official Ali al-Hamdi told AFP.

Hamdi blamed Daesh, saying members of the terrorist group were hiding out in the surrounding desert and making incursions into populated areas.

The mayor of Mushirfa village and two of his children were killed in the attack on his home, Hamdi said, as well as two tribal fighters of the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary units that played a leading role in the fight against Daesh.

The attacks came despite Baghdad's declaration of victory over the terrorist group late last year.

In mid-February, Daesh claimed responsibility for killing 27 people in the Hawija area of Kirkuk province, also setting up a fake checkpoint and disguising themselves as soldiers.