More than 1,000 people were killed in Iraq in January, figures showed Friday, as the country grapples with a surge in attacks and battles militants holding territory on Baghdad's doorstep.

The violence, the country's worst since 2008, comes with elections looming in less than three months amid fears Iraq may be slipping back into the all-out conflict that left tens of thousands dead years earlier.

World powers have urged the Shiite-led government to reach out to disaffected minority Sunnis but Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has taken a hard line and trumpeted wide-ranging security operations that he and other officials insist are having an impact.

The new figures, compiled by the ministries of health, interior and defence, showed that 1,013 people were killed in January, including 795 civilians, 122 soldiers and 96 policemen.

That was the highest toll since April 2008, when 1,073 people were killed, at a time when Iraq was slowly emerging from a brutal Sunni-Shiite sectarian war that left tens of thousands dead and scores of others displaced.

Another 2,024 people were wounded in January -- 1,633 civilians, 238 soldiers and 153 policemen.

Meanwhile, security forces killed 189 militants and arrested 458.

The numbers were higher than those compiled by AFP, which tracked 992 deaths, according to reports from security and medical officials.

They confirm a wave of intensifying violence ahead of April 30 parliamentary elections, with near-daily bombings and shootings hitting Baghdad and cities to the north, including Mosul, Tuz Khurmatu, Baquba, Kirkuk, Samarra, Tikrit, and surrounding areas.

Shootings have largely targeted security forces and civil servants, while bombings have ripped through both Sunni and Shiite neighbourhoods, striking markets, commercial streets, cafes and other areas where civilians congregate.

Sunni militants blamed

No group has claimed responsibility for most of the bloodshed, but Sunni militant groups including the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have been blamed for most of the attacks.

ISIL has also been fighting in Anbar province, a mostly-Sunni desert region west of Baghdad, where the government lost control of the city of Fallujah and parts of nearby Ramadi weeks ago.

Other militant groups and anti-government fighters have also been involved in the battles, while the police and army have recruited their own tribal allies.

It is the first time militants have exercised such open control in Iraqi cities since the peak of violence that followed the US-led invasion of 2003.

The standoff has prompted more than 140,000 people to flee their homes, the UN refugee agency said, describing it as the worst displacement in Iraq since the peak of sectarian conflict.

Washington has provided Baghdad with weaponry to help it combat militants and also plans to sell it 24 Apache attack helicopters.

But diplomats and analysts say the authorities must do more to tackle grievances cited by Sunnis, who allege that the government and security forces unfairly target their community.

Analysts say that while the vast majority of Sunnis do not support violence or militancy, their anger at the authorities means they are less likely to cooperate in providing intelligence or information to security forces.

But officials have instead focused on anti-militant operations, and this week published a rare photograph purportedly of ISIL chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the first of its kind released by an official source.

The black and white picture, which provides a rare glimpse of the militant commander accused of ordering the killings of countless Iraqis, shows a balding man with a beard wearing a suit and tie.

Warrants issued for judge and journalist over Iraq PM 'libel'
Baghdad (AFP) Feb 02, 2014 - Arrest warrants have been issued for the judge who convicted Saddam Hussein and a journalist critical of the government for allegedly libelling Iraq's premier, a watchdog and the judge said Sunday.

Warrants were issued last month for Munir Haddad and Sarmad al-Taie, apparently for criticising Nuri al-Maliki, under an article of the criminal code that prohibits defaming or insulting government employees.

A local press watchdog said the warrant for Taie, who writes a regular column for the Al-Mada newspaper and is a frequent guest on television current affairs programmes, was the first against a journalist since the US-led invasion in 2003.

Maliki's spokesman declined to confirm the premier's office had filed the case.

Haddad, who sentenced Saddam Hussein to death in 2006 and is now a private lawyer, turned himself in last week after being told of the warrant. He was subsequently released on bail.

"The person who filed a case against me was Nuri al-Maliki, accusing me of libel," Haddad said, telling AFP the original warrant was issued on January 8.

"I did not attack him, I was just practising my freedom of expression by criticising the government's performance... I am not against the prime minister, I am not his competitor, I do not have any political allegiance, I do not want to replace him, and I do not want to be in the government."

Haddad gave no details on the specific comments he made to trigger the accusation, and did not say when he would next appear in court.

Another warrant was issued for Taie, according to Ziad al-Ajili, head of the Baghdad-based Journalism Freedom Observatory.

"The government has filed a legal case against Sarmad al-Taie because of the opinions he expressed on television," Ajili told AFP, adding the warrant was apparently the first issued against a reporter since Saddam's overthrow.

"This is far away from international standards of freedom of opinion and expression."

Maliki's spokesman Ali Mussawi declined to say whether or not the premier had initiated the legal case, but said: "Maliki is like any citizen. He goes to the courts to defend his rights. What is the problem?"

"This is a boost for the judiciary. Everybody, even the prime minister, is subject to the law."

Iraq is routinely criticised for its poor record on media rights -- it frequently scores towards the bottom of press freedom rankings, and ranks first in the Committee to Protect Journalists' Impunity Index, which tracks unsolved murders of journalists.