RAMADI: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki called Monday for Fallujah residents to expel "terrorists" holding the city to avoid an assault by security forces, as they battled gunmen in nearby Ramadi.

Iraq is preparing a "major attack" to retake Fallujah, which has been outside government control for days, while parts of Anbar provincial capital Ramadi, farther west, are also held by Al-Qaeda-linked fighters.

This is the first time militants have exercised such open control in major cities since the height of the bloody insurgency that followed the US-led invasion of 2003.

Maliki called on "the people of Fallujah and its tribes to expel the terrorists" so "their areas are not subjected to the danger of armed clashes," state television reported.

Maliki also ordered security forces "not to strike residential areas in Fallujah", it said.

Meanwhile, continuous fighting between security forces and militants took place in north, northeast and south Ramadi from early Monday, a police major said, while a captain reported clashes east of Fallujah.

A senior official told AFP on Sunday that "Iraqi forces are preparing for a major attack in Fallujah."

And ground forces commander Staff Gen. Ali Ghaidan Majeed said the city should "wait for what is coming" — a reference to the impending assault.