In the six months since Iraq's government took office, suicide bombers have struck nearly 200 times, killing at least one-third of the more than 3,902 Iraqis slain in war-related violence since April 28, according to an Associated Press count.

The overwhelming majority of those killed between April 28 and Oct. 28 died in insurgent attacks, suicide or otherwise. Of these, 1,128 were security personnel and 2,774 — or two-thirds — were civilians, according to the count drawn from daily reports from Iraqi government officials, hospitals and the U.S. government. Insurgent deaths were not part of the AP tally.

At least 190 suicide bombings — both by vehicle and bombers with explosives strapped to their bodies — have taken the greatest toll, killing at least 1,458 people. Car bombs detonated remotely account for at least one in 10 Iraqi deaths.

Amid the unremitting violence, the new Iraqi government has written the country's constitution, held a nationwide referendum on the document, and is now preparing for Dec. 15 elections for a new government.

On Sept. 14, the deadliest day since the government officially began its work, more than a dozen highly co-ordinated bombings ripped through Baghdad, killing 162 people, including many day labourers lured by a suicide attacker posing as an employer. On Sept. 29, suicide car bombs struck a vegetable market and two other commercial centres in Balad and Hillah, both bustling Shiite towns. A total of 122 Iraqis died that day, most in Balad.

The bodies of 576 Iraqis — often dozens at a time left alongside roads or scattered in shallow graves — have been found — all but a few apparently civilians.

September, the month before Iraq's contentious constitutional referendum, which voters approved despite strong opposition from the minority Sunni Arab community, was the deadliest month for attacks, with at least 804 people killed. October has seen at least 495 deaths so far.

The AP count is incomplete and could exclude deaths either not officially reported or in areas where there are no Associated Press reporters.

The Iraqi deaths include civilians, bodyguards, police, security forces and the military. They do not include the nearly 1,000 Shiite pilgrims killed in an Aug. 21 stampede on a Baghdad bridge that began when rumours spread through the crowd that a suicide bomber was among the faithful.

More than 40 per cent, or at least 1,676 people were reported dead in Baghdad or its suburbs, while the remaining 2,226 were killed all over Iraq, primarily in major cities.

The cities with the next-largest reported number of dead were Mosul with at least 196, followed by Tal Afar with 188, Balad with 124, and Kirkuk with 118.

There are nonetheless small signs that Iraq's government is succeeding in rebuilding the country with the help of coalition forces. The electricity supply has risen steadily since April, from 3,390 megawatts to 4,117 megawatts in October — although well below the goal of 6,000 megawatts, which was to have been reached by July 2004, according to a Brookings Institution count.

And the number of Iraqis who have telephone access has risen to 4.5 million, compared with an estimated prewar level of 833,000, Brookings reported.

The number of U.S. troops in Iraq stands at 150,000, according to recent figures.