Iraqi forces launched at least four air strikes on militants occupying ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's palace compound in the city of Tikrit on Thursday, witnesses said.

It was not immediately clear whether the strikes against the militants, who took the city a day before, were launched by helicopters or planes.

The sprawling compound in central Tikrit was one of several around the country where Saddam once received foreign guests and dignitaries.

A major offensive by militants, spearheaded by jihadist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, has overrun all of one province, major areas of two others and part of a fourth since it began on Monday night.

Tikrit was the second provincial capital to fall to the offensive, following the northern city of Mosul, where it began.

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