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There were also 1,592 civilians, 129 police and 20 soldiers wounded.
August also saw 52 insurgents killed and 540 arrested.
The toll in August jumped markedly from the 275 Iraqis who lost their lives in July, in the wake of a major pullout of US combat troops from urban centres the previous month.
The weeks leading up to the June 30 withdrawal of American forces from Iraq's cities, towns and villages also saw a spike in violence, with 437 people dying that month.
The high number in August was partly due to two massive truck bombings at the foreign and finance ministries in Baghdad that killed at least 95 people and wounded hundreds.
Dubbed "Bloody Wednesday," the August 19 attacks Iraq prompted the government to admit major security breaches had occurred which led directly to civilian deaths. Eleven top security officials were arrested.
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who lost 32 staffers in the bloodshed, warned of more deadly attacks because security is deteriorating due to collusion between the security forces and insurgents.
Zebari also made the first official admission that the blasts, on what was the worst day of violence in Iraq in 18 months, signalled that security gains made in the past year are appearing to unravel.
"This has been going on for the last two months. Every week, every two weeks we see a wave of these bombings and killings of innocent people," he said.
"Enough of these over-optimistic remarks about security. There has been a deterioration in the security situation, this is a fact and the coming (violence) will be bigger."
Last month saw several other high-profile attacks across Iraq, including a spate of bombings on August 10 that killed 51 people and wounded at least 250.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki described the August 19 attacks as "a desperate attempt to derail the political process and affect the parliamentary elections," planned for January 2010.
But Zebari went further and called for a re-appraisal of the country's entire security apparatus as it was not, he said, obtaining sufficient intelligence to counter the insurgent threat.
The US military said the August 19 bombings showed insurgents were aiming to destabilise the government.
"Why? Perhaps to fracture national unity ... perhaps to (make) the population lose trust and confidence in the government ... so that the blame game starts, which could lead to a breakdown in the security forces, which possibly leads to militias being formed," Brigadier General Steve Lanza said on Wednesday.
He also said the attacks had not triggered sectarian tension. "We knew this was coming but it has not accomplished its purpose ... to foment sectarian violence, and we have not seen the national government collapse."
Seven US soldiers died in Iraq in August, the lowest number since the 2003 US-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, according to the independent website icasualties.org
According to latest figures, 4,336 American soldiers have died in Iraq since the invasion.
US President Barack Obama has vowed to withdraw all combat troops from the country by the end of August 2010, ahead of a complete military pullout by the end of 2011.
Meanwhile, two people were shot dead in the northern city of Mosul as they left a Sunni mosque on Tuesday night, a police officer said.
And police reported that the young son of a Sunni official was abducted by gunmen outside his home northeast of Baghdad on Tuesday.
"Ali, eight, the son of the provincial counsellor of Diyala, Najem Abdullah al-Harbi, was kidnapped in Mokdadiya," a police officer said.
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August also saw 52 insurgents killed and 540 arrested.
The toll in August jumped markedly from the 275 Iraqis who lost their lives in July, in the wake of a major pullout of US combat troops from urban centres the previous month.
The weeks leading up to the June 30 withdrawal of American forces from Iraq's cities, towns and villages also saw a spike in violence, with 437 people dying that month.
The high number in August was partly due to two massive truck bombings at the foreign and finance ministries in Baghdad that killed at least 95 people and wounded hundreds.
Dubbed "Bloody Wednesday," the August 19 attacks Iraq prompted the government to admit major security breaches had occurred which led directly to civilian deaths. Eleven top security officials were arrested.
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who lost 32 staffers in the bloodshed, warned of more deadly attacks because security is deteriorating due to collusion between the security forces and insurgents.
Zebari also made the first official admission that the blasts, on what was the worst day of violence in Iraq in 18 months, signalled that security gains made in the past year are appearing to unravel.
"This has been going on for the last two months. Every week, every two weeks we see a wave of these bombings and killings of innocent people," he said.
"Enough of these over-optimistic remarks about security. There has been a deterioration in the security situation, this is a fact and the coming (violence) will be bigger."
Last month saw several other high-profile attacks across Iraq, including a spate of bombings on August 10 that killed 51 people and wounded at least 250.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki described the August 19 attacks as "a desperate attempt to derail the political process and affect the parliamentary elections," planned for January 2010.
But Zebari went further and called for a re-appraisal of the country's entire security apparatus as it was not, he said, obtaining sufficient intelligence to counter the insurgent threat.
The US military said the August 19 bombings showed insurgents were aiming to destabilise the government.
"Why? Perhaps to fracture national unity ... perhaps to (make) the population lose trust and confidence in the government ... so that the blame game starts, which could lead to a breakdown in the security forces, which possibly leads to militias being formed," Brigadier General Steve Lanza said on Wednesday.
He also said the attacks had not triggered sectarian tension. "We knew this was coming but it has not accomplished its purpose ... to foment sectarian violence, and we have not seen the national government collapse."
Seven US soldiers died in Iraq in August, the lowest number since the 2003 US-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, according to the independent website icasualties.org
According to latest figures, 4,336 American soldiers have died in Iraq since the invasion.
US President Barack Obama has vowed to withdraw all combat troops from the country by the end of August 2010, ahead of a complete military pullout by the end of 2011.
Meanwhile, two people were shot dead in the northern city of Mosul as they left a Sunni mosque on Tuesday night, a police officer said.
And police reported that the young son of a Sunni official was abducted by gunmen outside his home northeast of Baghdad on Tuesday.
"Ali, eight, the son of the provincial counsellor of Diyala, Najem Abdullah al-Harbi, was kidnapped in Mokdadiya," a police officer said.
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