The daily death toll of Iraqi civilians has abruptly risen to 39 so far in March from approximately 26 in February, a report says.

The deaths mark a significant rise in violence over several days that included dozens of civilians dying in violence, AP reported.

The sudden spike comes in the wake of a 60 percent drop in attacks across the country since June, according to US military figures.

According to an AP count, at the height of unrest from November 2006 to August 2007, on average approximately 65 Iraqis died each day as a result of violence.

However, as conditions improved, the daily death toll steadily declined. It reached its lowest point in more than two years on January 2008, when on average 20 Iraqis died each day.

But those numbers have jumped from 26 in February to 39 so far in March.

These figures reflect the months in which people were found, and not necessarily -in the case of mass graves- the months in which they were killed.

Meanwhile, Iraqi government on Wednesday announced that a committee is formed to explore ways citizens could sue US forces involved in "unjustified killings,'' according to the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office.

The US military declined to comment.

MHE/RA