ISIL fighters launch attack on Iraq's Ramadi

areas of the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, involving seven almost simultaneous suicide car bombs, police say.

At least 10 people were killed and 30 wounded in Wednesday's attack, according to initial reports by police and hospital sources in Ramadi, capital of Anbar province.

The attack came a day after Iraqi government forces and their allied fighters entered parts of Tikrit as part of a major offensive to recapture the strategic city from ISIL.

In the last few days, Iraqi forces and allied Shia fighters have captured several towns in the outskirts of Tikrit, including al-Alam and al-Dour.

Government troops have also reportedly taken control of the oil fields in al-Ojail, another town near Tikrit.

More troops are also reportedly standing by further out, in Samarra and Beiji, as well as outside the town of Garma in Anbar.

Counting on victory

The Iraqi government is hoping that a victory in Tikrit will help persuade Sunnis in other places to rise up against ISIL as the operation proceeds further north into Mosul.

Iraq's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that its forces had surrounded Tikrit along the Tigris River, and were preparing to advance into the city.

Government troops and Shia volunteer fighters from Popular Mobilisation Forces were stationed in the main streets of the city, as they started to advance towards al-Qadisiah Street, the Defence Ministry statement said.

Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf, reporting from the Kurdish city of Erbil, quoted sources as saying that Iraqi forces are now holding parts of Tikrit.

"But that doesn't mean they have control of the entire city," she said, adding that ISIL fighters had reportedly blown up a bridge leading to Tikrit.

Several roads into Tikrit are reportedly rigged with explosives.

Earlier, an Iraqi Defence Ministry video showed Iraqi forces destroying 20 heavy machine guns and 20 vehicles as it advanced into Tikrit.

At least 382 improvised explosive devices were also reportedly dismantled.

The same video claimed that government troops had killed 350 suspected ISIL fighters within four days of its ongoing operation in the area.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the ISIL death toll.

The battle over Tikrit, a Sunni stronghold, is crucial for Iraqi forces in their advance towards Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, which is controlled by ISIL.

Tikrit serves as an important hub because it is on the main highway leading to Baghdad.

But the advance of government forces and Shia militias into Tikrit has also stoked sectarian tensions.

On Tuesday, Iraqi Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr issued a statement urging the Iraqi government to investigate and punish anyone using "excessive violence" against the Sunni residents from areas recently liberated from ISIL.

The statement came after reprisal attacks in al-Ojail, where fighters from an armed group, the League of the Righteous headed by Qais al-Khazali, reportedly ransacked and burned houses belonging to Sunni residents.

Al-Khazali had said that his group was working under the guidance of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the elite Quds Brigade, who has been seen directing operations on the eastern flank of Tikrit.