Militants in Iraq have stormed a university campus in the western city of Ramadi, taking dozens of students and staff hostage.

One student at the Anbar University campus said "everybody is in panic".

One report said some guards had died and that the militants were from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

The western province of Anbar is a focal point of Iraq's rising sectarian violence, with a number of areas controlled by Sunni militants.

The areas include parts of Ramadi, where the militants have been battling security forces of the Shia-led government for months.

Saturday's attack was the third major assault by insurgents in as many days, following raids on Mosul in the north and the central city of Samarra.

Police said militants had infiltrated the campus from the neighbouring al-Tasha district, blowing up a bridge that connects to the university's main gate.

Security personnel have sealed off the campus and one Agence France-Presse reporter said special forces had led an assault.

Another unconfirmed report spoke of the militants withdrawing.

The staff and students were reportedly held in a dormitory.

One student in the building, Ahmed al-Mehamdi, spoke to the Associated Press news agency by telephone.

He said he awoke to gunfire and saw armed men running across the campus. The gunmen entered the dormitory and told everybody to stay in their rooms.

He said: "The gunmen took some students to other university buildings. For the rest of us, we are still trapped in our rooms and everybody is in panic, especially the Shia students."

Bakudaily.az