UNITED NATIONS - The number of civilians slain in Iraq reached an unprecedented level in July and August, which saw 6,599 violent deaths, the United Nations said Wednesday.

Iraqi women mourn the death of relatives outside the morgue of a hospital in Baghdad's poor Neighborhood of Sadr City, August 2006. At least 6,599 civilians were killed across war-torn Iraq in the months of July and August, the United Nations said. [AFP]

The report from the U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq offered a grim assessment of other indicators, from unlawful detentions to the growth of sectarian militias and death squads, and a rise in "honor killings" of women.

The report raises new questions about U.S. and Iraqi forces' ability to bring peace to Baghdad, where the bulk of the violent deaths occurred. Iraq's government, set up in 2006, is "currently facing a generalized breakdown of law and order which presents a serious challenge to the institutions of Iraq," it said.

According to past U.N. reports, 710 civilians were killed in January, 1,129 in April, 2,669 in May and 3,149 in June.

Violent civilian deaths in July reached an unprecedented high of 3,590 people, an average of more than 100 a day, the new report said. The August toll was 3,009 people, the report said.

Of the total for July and August, the report said 5,106 of the dead were from Baghdad.

At the heart of the U.N. findings are casualty figures that combine two counts: from the Ministry of Health, which records deaths reported by hospitals; and the Medico-Legal Institute in Baghdad, which tallies the unidentified bodies it receives.

The numbers largely echoed August figures the Iraqi Health Ministry released earlier this month. The U.S. military had initially claimed a drastic drop in the death toll for August, but the estimate was revised upward after the United States revealed it had not counted people killed by bombs, mortars, rockets or other mass attacks.

The U.N. investigators who compiled the report said it was likely that even those numbers were low. In July, for example, the Health Ministry reported no people killed in Anbar, the chaotic province that includes the extremely violent cities of Ramadi and Fallujah.

The report attributed many of the deaths to the rising sectarian tensions that have pushed Iraq toward the verge of civil war.

"These figures reflect the fact that indiscriminate killings of civilians have continued throughout the country while hundreds of bodies appear bearing signs of severe torture and execution style killing," the report said. "Such murders are carried out by death squads or by armed groups, with sectarian or revenge connotations."

The report said it was possible the lower figures for August were the result of a security crackdown that saw some 12,000 more Iraqi and multinational troops blanket several Baghdad neighborhoods. Yet it noted that one of the deadliest attacks over the two months came on Aug. 31, when nearly simultaneous bombings in eastern Baghdad killed 64 people.

On other issues, the report painted a similarly grim picture. It said about 300,000 people had been displaced in Iraq since the bombing of a shrine in Samarra in February, and reported a rise in honor killings against women.

The U.N. has also received several reports of Iraqi journalists facing prosecution for their reporting. In one case, for example, three reporters working for a newspaper faced trial for articles criticizing a regional government and accusing police and the judicial system there of violating basic human rights.

The report said 13,571 Iraqis were being detained. The U.N. special rapporteur has received allegations of torture in prisons run by Iraq's interior and defense ministries, as well as ones under multinational control.

Iraqi non-governmental organizations "expressed their frustration at the current situation and stressed the urgent need for the U.N. and other international entities to intervene in order to prevent further human rights violations," the report said.

However, the U.N. special rapporteur for torture, Manfred Nowak, has so far been unable to go to Iraq because the government has not provided him the necessary invitation, it said.