The American decision to release their own toll came after the Iraqi figures showed a sharp upswing in the level of violence nearly five months after parliamentary elections which have yet to result in the formation of a new government and as the United States carries out a major troop withdrawal.

While overall casualty tolls are compiled by Iraq's ministries of health, interior and defence and released every month, the US military usually does not publicly contest them.

"USF-I (United States Forces-Iraq) refutes the reported figures of violence that claims that July 2010 is 'the deadliest month in Iraq since 2008'," the US military said in the statement.

According to US data, 222 people were killed in Iraqi violence last month, less than half the Iraqi figure, and added that 782 people were wounded.

"The claim that July 2010 was the deadliest month in Iraq since May 2008 is incorrect," the statement noted.

Asked why the US military contested this month's tolls in particular, Major General Stephen Lanza, spokesman for US forces in Iraq, said the figures released by the Iraqi ministries did not "reflect the security situation this past month."

"While we have noted discrepancies in the past and have fully supported the GOI (government of Iraq) position to not release official casualty figures, we believe the figures provided to media by unofficial sources this month were grossly overstated," he said.

Lanza said the military could not provide monthly casualty tolls for previous months, and added it would not be releasing its own such tolls in subsequent months.

Saturday's figures from the Iraqi government put the death toll at 535 overall -- 396 civilians, 89 policemen and 50 soldiers -- with an additional 1,043 people wounded.

That figure was the highest for a single month since May 2008 when 563 people were killed in violence.

The dispute over the latest figures come as the US military carries out a steady drawdown of its forces in Iraq, before it concludes combat operations in the country at the end of this month.

There are about 65,000 US soldiers currently stationed in Iraq, but that is set to drop to 50,000 by September 1. All US troops must withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011, in line with the terms of a US-Iraq pact.

July's data released by the Iraqi ministries was significantly higher than that for June, when 284 people died, and is nearly double the toll from the same month a year ago, when 275 people were killed.

"We receive, as usual, the number of civilian victims from the ministry of health, the number of policemen from the ministry of interior and we compile the number of soldiers," a defence ministry official said in response to the US statement.

"It's the same procedure every month," the official said on condition of anonymity.

A string of attacks against Shiite pilgrims in a three-day period up to July 8 killed 70 people in Baghdad, as tens of thousands commemorated the death of Musa Kadhim, the seventh of 12 revered imams in Shiite Islam, in 799 AD.

On July 18, a suicide bomber targeting anti-Qaeda militiamen being paid their wages killed 45 people west of Baghdad, and left 46 others wounded, the country's single deadliest attack in more than two months.

Three days later, a car bomb killed 30 people and injured 46 near a mosque in a predominantly Shiite area of the mixed city of Baquba, north of the Iraqi capital.

Twin car bombs killed a further 21 people in the Shiite holy city of Karbala on July 26, while four others died in a suicide attack on the Al-Arabiya television station's offices in Baghdad.

US and Iraqi officials have warned of the dangers of an upsurge in violence if negotiations on forming a new government drag on, giving insurgent groups an opportunity to further destabilise the country.

Nearly five months since the March 7 general election which gave no single bloc an overall parliamentary majority, the two lists which won the most seats are still bickering over who should be the next prime minister.

earlier related report
Iraq arrests two over deadly Baghdad attacks: security
Baghdad (AFP) July 31, 2010 - Iraqi soldiers arrested two suspected insurgents behind a brazen series of attacks in Baghdad this week that killed 16 people and wounded 14 others, a security official said on Saturday.

The pair were arrested as a result of security camera footage that showed insurgents setting alight three dead soldiers and planting Al-Qaeda's flag, a defence ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The private surveillance tape was taken from a shop in the predominantly Sunni area of Adhamiyah where the attack, which also involved homemade bombs being placed on routes to the scene of the fire, took place on Thursday.

"The private security camera recorded the entire operation and shows the gunmen attack an army checkpoint, plant bombs and burn dead bodies," the official said.

According to the official, the videotape shows the gunmen killing the soldiers after a 10-minute gun battle, pouring oil over their bodies and setting them on fire.

"Then, they put bombs on the roads leading to the scene, and planted the flag of the Islamic State of Iraq (Al-Qaeda's front group) near the dead bodies before fleeing," the official said.

He said two people including a lawyer had been arrested as a result of the footage of the attacks, which occurred within 15 minutes of each other.

In addition to the original killing of the soldiers, three homemade bomb attacks on different routes to the scene of the shooting killed 13 more people, including three soldiers and three policemen, and wounded 14, among them seven police and two civil defence members, the interior ministry said.

Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim Atta said "large numbers of weapons and explosions were found within the last 24 hours" in raids as part of an investigation into the attack.

"A number of suspects and wanted persons have been arrested after the terrorist attack in Adhamiyah," he said.

US and Iraqi officials have warned of the dangers of an upsurge in violence as negotiations on forming a new governing coalition drag on, more than four months after the country held a parliamentary election.

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