The tomb of Iraq's late dictator Saddam Hussein was virtually leveled in heavy clashes between militants from the Islamic State group and Iraqi forces in a fight for control of the city of Tikrit, reports Associated Press (AP).

Footage filmed by the AP shows all that remains of the once-lavish mausoleum in the village of al-Awja are pillars that held up the roof.

Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed Shia militia are battling to drive Islamic State (IS) militants from Tikrit, reports BBC.

Fighting intensified to the north and south of Saddam Hussein's hometown Sunday as Iraqi security forces vowed to reach the center of Tikrit within 48 hours. Associated Press video from the village of Ouja, just south of Tikrit, shows all that remains of Hussein's once-lavish tomb are the support columns that held up the roof.

AP reports poster-sized pictures of the late Sunni dictator, which once covered the mausoleum, are now nowhere to be seen amid the mountains of concrete rubble. Instead, Shiite militia flags and photos of militia leaders mark the predominantly Sunni village, including that of Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the powerful Iranian general advising Iraqi Shiite militias on the battlefield.

‘This is one of the areas where IS militants massed the most because Saddam's grave is here,’ said Captain Yasser Nu'ma, an official with the Shiite militias, formerly known as the Popular Mobilization Forces. ‘The IS militants' set an ambush for us by planting bombs around’ the tomb.

The extremist Islamic State group has controlled Tikrit since June, when it waged its lightning offensive that saw Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, come under their control. The Islamic State was helped in its conquest of northern Iraq by Saddam loyalists, including military veterans, who appealed to Sunnis who felt victimized by Baghdad's Shiite-dominated government.

The Islamic State group claimed in August that Saddam's tomb had been completely destroyed, but local officials said it was just ransacked and burned, but suffered only minor damage.

AP said that its crew was embedded with the Iraqi military and may have been subject to reporting restrictions.

‘This is one of the areas where IS militants massed the most because Saddam's grave is here,’ said Captain Yasser Nu'ma, an official with the militias.

‘The IS militants set an ambush for us by planting bombs around.’

IS said last August that the tomb had been completely destroyed but local officials denied this, saying it had been ransacked and suffered only minor damage.

Saddam Hussein, who was from Tikrit, was captured by US forces in 2003.

An Iraqi tribunal convicted him of crimes against humanity for the killings of Shia Muslims and Kurds and hanged him in 2006. His body had been kept in the mausoleum since 2007.

It featured a marble octagon with a bed of fresh flowers at the centre, covering the place where the body was buried.

According to Iraqi media, loyalists removed his remains last year amid fears that it would be disturbed in the fighting.

Tikrit was overrun by IS last June and several hundred militants are believed to be holding out there.

The pro-government force ranged against them includes about 3,000 Iraqi troops with 20,000 Shia militiamen and a much smaller force of Sunni tribesmen.

Iraqi officials consider the city's recapture as a vital stepping stone to other IS-held territory, including Mosul - the country's second largest city.