Iraqi death toll touches record low in October since 2003 action

Baghdad: The numbers of Iraqi civilians and US troops killed in Iraq have hit their lowest levels since the war began in 2003, monthly tallies showed on Friday.

Iraqi government figures showed 238 civilians were killed this month, the lowest number since US forces invaded in 2003.

The figures show a sharp drop over the past year. In October last year 758 civilians were killed, while from September 2006 to August 2007 the monthly toll was never lower than 1,000.

Just seven US service members were killed in hostile action in October, the lowest monthly toll of the war according to statistics from the website www.icasualties.org which collates official data. Eight were killed in hostile action last month, while 30 were killed in hostile action in October 2007.