BAGHDAD: July was the deadliest month in Iraq since May 2008 with a total of 535 people killed across the country as a result or violence, according to government figures released on Saturday.

A total of 396 civilians, 89 policemen and 50 soldiers died in attacks in July, data compiled by the health, defence and interior ministries showed.

The death toll is the highest for a single month since May 2008 when 563 people were killed in violence.

Saturday`s figures also showed that 1,043 people -- 680 civilians, 198 policemen and 165 soldiers -- were injured in attacks this month, the highest such number this year.

The data also showed that 100 insurgents were killed and 955 were arrested.

Four American soldiers died in July -- only one in a hostile incident -- bringing to 4,413 the total number to have died in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003 that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, according to an AFP tally based on figures from independent website www.icasualties.org.

BDST: 0909 HRS, August 01, 2010