UN: Violence in April kills at least 741 Iraqis
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press
May 1, 2016 7:44 AM CDT
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr speaks during a media conference in Najaf, Iraq, 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Saturday, April 30, 2016. Dozens of supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr protesting against the government, stormed into the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad on Saturday to storm...   (Associated Press)

BAGHDAD (AP) — The United Nations says at least 741 Iraqis have been killed in April due to ongoing violence, a sharp decline from the previous month.

In its monthly report issued on Sunday, the U.N. mission to Iraq, known as UNAMI, put the number of civilians killed at 410, while the rest were members of the security forces. A total of 1,374 Iraqis were wounded that month, it added.

In March, at least 1,119 people were killed and 1,561 wounded.

The worst-hit area was the capital, Baghdad, with 232 civilians killed and 642 wounded, followed by the northern province of Ninevah, which is almost entirely controlled by the Islamic State group, with 72 killed and 30 wounded.

The report came after Sunday's dual bomb attacks in southern Iraq, which killed at least 23 people and wounded dozens.