Bombings and shootings in Iraq killed at least 409 people and wounded 975 during the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, according to an AFP tally based on security and medical officials.

The month saw a number of deadly days, including July 23, when 113 people were killed and 259 wounded in a wave of attacks across the country, and August 16, when 82 were killed and 270 wounded.

Ramadan, when observant Muslims abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex during the day, began on July 21 and ended for Iraqi Sunnis and some Shiites after sundown on August 18, and the rest the next night.

But violence often rises during the holy month in Iraq because, "radicalised terrorists are often more intent on conducting these (suicide attacks) during the holy month of Ramadan because it is a period associated with martyrdom and self-sacrifice," said John Drake, a security analyst with AKE Group.

Violence in Iraq is down from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common.

Official figures put the number of people killed in July at 325, the highest monthly death toll in almost two years.

Iraqi Sunni leader wounded at beginning of Eid
Baghdad (AFP) Aug 19, 2012 - A Sunni religious leader who called on Iraqis to fight US troops but has more recently advocated national reconciliation was wounded by a car bomb as the Eid al-Fitr festival began in Baghdad on Sunday.

Mehdi al-Sumaidaie was travelling in west Baghdad after leading prayers on the first day of Eid, which marks the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, when the attack occurred.

"A car bomb targeted the convoy of Sheikh Sumaidaie after he left a mosque in Yarmuk," an interior ministry official said, referring to a neighbourhood in the capital's west.

The official, who declined to be identified, said Sumaidaie and four of his bodyguards were wounded in the blast.

The religious leader's cousin Ibrahim al-Sumaidaie, a Baghdad-based political analyst, confirmed his relative was wounded.

"Gunmen driving a car tried to cut off Sheikh al-Sumaidaie's convoy, and when the convoy came to a halt, another car driving fast crashed into his car and blew up," Ibrahim al-Sumaidaie told AFP.

"He was transferred to intensive care at Medical City hospital, where they performed surgery to remove shrapnel from his head."

Sumaidaie was formerly the head of a Salafist group that called for attacks against US troops, before their departure from Iraq at the end of last year, but he later fled to Syria.

He returned to Iraq last year, and has since called for national reconciliation.

The Eid al-Fitr festival began on Sunday for Iraq's Sunnis and some Shiites, but other Shiites, particularly followers of the country's most senior Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, will observe one more day of fasting before beginning Eid celebrations.

This Ramadan has been a particularly violent one in Iraq -- at least 411 people have been killed in attacks, according to an AFP tally based on reports from security and medical officials.