Government figures show violence in Iraq killed 989 people in July, making it the deadliest month in five years.

Iraq was plagued by sectarian violence that killed tens of thousands of people in past years, and there are fears tensions will again boil over into all-out conflict.

Those killed in July included 88 police officers, 55 soldiers, 778 civilians and 68 insurgents, according to figures compiled by the health, interior and defence ministries.

Even more people were wounded: 1,356 civilians, 122 police and 89 soldiers.

It is the highest monthly death toll since April 2008, when the country was emerging from a bloody sectarian conflict.

According to official figures, that month 1,428 people were killed, including 966 civilians, 69 police, 38 soldiers and 355 insurgents.

The bloodshed in the country continued yesterday, with 15 people dead, including five Sahwa anti-al Qaeda fighters.

Gunmen killed three Sahwa militiamen and wounded a fourth in the northern province of Kirkuk.

Two more were shot dead near Baquba, also north of the capital.

The Sahwa sided with US forces against insurgents from late 2006, helping to turn the tide of the war. They are regarded as traitors by Sunni militants and are frequently targeted in attacks.

Two people were killed by gunmen in the same area where the Sahwa fighters were attacked north-east of Baquba, while two bombings in Kirkuk province wounded five soldiers and a policeman.

Gunmen also shot dead seven people and wounded eight in two attacks in Baghdad province, and a car bomb wounded five people south of Tikrit.

A suicide bomber also attacked an army patrol in Abu Ghraib, west of the capital, killing a soldier and wounding four.

Iraq has faced years of attacks by militants, but analysts say widespread discontent among the Sunni Arab minority, which the government has failed to address, has fuelled this year's spike in unrest.

Sunnis accuse the Shiite-led government of marginalising and targeting their community, including unwarranted arrests and terrorism charges.

Protests that erupted in Sunni areas at the end of 2012 are still ongoing.

In addition to major security problems, the government is also failing to provide adequate basic services such as electricity and clean water, and corruption is widespread.

Political squabbling has paralysed the government, which has passed almost no major legislation in years.

AFP