Iraqi tribesmen and police on Thursday battled Al-Qaeda-linked militants who took control of part of the city of Ramadi, police said.

The fighting erupted in eastern Ramadi, two police officers said.

An interior ministry official had said that some areas of the city were under the control of militants from the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), while other parts were in the hands of tribesmen.

An AFP journalist in Ramadi earlier saw dozens of trucks carrying heavily armed men in the east of the city, playing songs praising ISIL.

Lyrics included "The Islamic State remains" and "Our State is victorious".

The militants also carried black flags of a type frequently flown by ISIL.