The Iraqi military on Thursday announced plans to arm residents of 50 villages near the city of Mosul, the provincial capital of the northern Nineveh province, after suspected Daesh gunmen killed five members of the same family.

"Following a meeting with local tribal chiefs, the army chief-of-staff decided to arm residents of 50 villages near Mosul to allow them to defend themselves against possible terrorist attacks," Brigadier-General Najm al-Jabouri, head of the army's Nineveh Operations Command, said in a statement.

Earlier Thursday, five people -- from the same family -- were killed near Mosul in an attack by the Daesh terrorist group, according to the Defense Ministry.

An interior ministry statement said "terrorist elements" attacked the home of a district governor in ​​the village of Al-Lazzagah south of Mosul, killing him, his two sons, his nephew, his mother, and wounding two others.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Daesh terrorists are active in the area.

In a separate incident, gunmen attacked a grain silo in the northern Iraqi town of Shirqat on Thursday, killing a guard and setting fire to a vehicle.

In late 2017, Baghdad declared that Daesh's military presence in Iraq had been eradicated following a three-year war between the terrorist group and the army.

But the terrorists have adapted their tactics to insurgent-style attacks since they were defeated and driven out of areas they controlled for years.

The army continues to carry out frequent operations against Daesh "sleeper cells," which it says remain active in certain parts of the country.