Deadliest month since August

Fighting in Baghdad's Shi'ite slum of Sadr City made April the deadliest month for Iraqi civilians since last August and for US troops since last September, figures obtained on Wednesday showed.

Iraqi Health Ministry figures showed 968 civilian deaths in April, the most in eight months. On Wednesday the US military reported the deaths of five more of its soldiers in Baghdad, raising its monthly toll to 49.

Most of the US and Iraqi deaths were in the capital, where US and government forces have been fighting Shi'ite militants loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the tightly-packed Sadr City slum and other Shi'ite areas.