BAGHDAD, Nov 22: Iraq's civilian death toll reached a new monthly high of more than 3,700 last month, a UN report said on Wednesday.

As further evidence of the daily carnage, 37 people were killed on Wednesday across Iraq -- including seven members of a specialised security force south of Baghdad.

The United Nations said the October death toll of 3,709, including women and children, was the highest since the US-led invasion, and that sectarian violence appeared to be the main cause.

The figures, based on data provided by the Baghdad health ministry and morgues, compared with a previous high of 3,590 in July, which the UN called “unprecedented” at the time.

The report, by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, said “the influence of armed militias is growing and torture continues to be rampant.

“Hundreds of bodies continued to appear in different areas of Baghdad handcuffed, blindfolded and bearing signs of torture and execution-style killing,” the report added.

“Many witnesses reported that perpetrators wear militia attire and even police or army uniforms.” Iraq -- mainly Baghdad -- has been engulfed in brutal Shiite-Sunni sectarian conflict since the February bombing of a revered Shiite shrine in the north.

The UN report said those killed in September and October included 351 women and 110 children.

“The civilian population of Iraq continues to be victims of terrorist acts, roadside bombs, drive-by shootings, cross fire between rival gangs, or between police and insurgents, kidnappings, military operations, crime and police abuse,” it said. “Sectarian violence seems to be the main cause.” The UN mission regularly received reports that security forces were either “infiltrated or act in collusion with militias, while police and military security operations continued to be based on massive sweeps”, the report said.

The Facility Protection Service has been one such force often accused of killing Sunni Arabs. On today seven FPS members were killed by a bomb in the town of Iskandiriyah south of Baghdad as they queued for their salaries at a government building, police said.Elsewhere 30 people were killed in a string of attacks.—AFP