The number of Iraqi civilians killed in October reached a new monthly high of 3,709, the United Nations said Wednesday, AP reported. Said Arikat, spokesman for the U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq, said the toll was given in the latest human rights report, which covers September and October. It exceeded the previous monthly high of 3,590 in July. U.N. officials blamed the increase on the growing influence of armed militias and rampant torture «despite the government's commitment to address human rights abuses.» «Hundreds of bodies continued to appear in different areas of Baghdad handcuffed, blindfolded and bearing signs of torture and execution-style killing,» the officials quoted the report as saying. «Many witnesses reported that perpetrators wear militia attire and even police or army uniforms.»
