October Iraq's deadliest month in five years

Most of the nearly 1,000 people killed last month were civilians, according to government figures.

Last Modified: 01 Nov 2013 11:33


The US State Department says at least 6,000 Iraqis have been killed in attacks so far this year [Reuters]


Nearly 1,000 people were killed across Iraq in October, making it the country's deadliest month since April 2008, figures compiled by government ministries showed A total of 855 civilians, 65 policemen and 44 soldiers were killed, according to data from the Iraqi ministries of health, interior and defence, released on Friday.

A further 1,600 were wounded - 1,445 civilians, 88 policemen and 67 soldiers. The figures also showed that 33 fighters were killed and 167 arrested.

Iraq has been grappling with a spike in violence for months, despite wide-ranging operations targeting armed groups and a major tightening of security in Baghdad and elsewhere.

The UN released almost similar figures and called for an end to the ongoing violence on Friday.

"It is urgent that the Iraqi leaders take together the necessary bold steps to bring an end to the current mayhem, and to foil attempts by terrorists to destroy the social fabric of the Iraqi society.” Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, said.

The overall death toll last month was the highest since April 2008, when government figures showed 1,073 people were killed.

At the time, Iraq was slowly emerging from a brutal sectarian war that claimed tens of thousands of lives,

PM to meet Obama

The latest figures were released as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was scheduled to meet President Barack Obama in Washington on Friday. The prime minister was expected to appeal for more US assistance in beating back the bloody insurgency consuming his country, in the meeting at the White House.

The new aid requests comes nearly two years after al-Maliki's government refused to let American forces stay in Iraq with legal immunity after the nine-year war formally ended.

Violence started rising in Iraq within months of the US troop departure at the end of 2011.

The State Department says at least 6,000 Iraqis have been killed in attacks so far this year.