Iraqi government forces battling an Al-Qaida offensive have launched air strikes on the city of Ramadi and Falluja, killing many Islamist militants, according to local officials.

Al-Qaeda's Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has been steadily tightening its grip in the vast Sunni-dominated Anbar province in recent months in a bid to create a Sunni Muslim state straddling the frontier with Syria.

But last week's capture of positions in Ramadi and large parts of Falluja was the first time in years that Sunni insurgents had taken ground in the province's major cities and held their positions for days.