According to data collected by the interior, health and defence ministries and made available to AFP news agency, 966 civilians were killed across Iraq in April, as were 69 police officers and 38 soldiers.
A security official said most of the fatalities were in clashes between troops and militia loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American Shia leader based in Sadr City, a sprawling Baghdad district of some two million people.
The fighting between security forces and Shia fighters erupted in the southern city of Basra on March 25, and spread quickly to other Shia areas of Iraq, particularly Sadr City.