BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The fighting that erupted in Baghdad's Sadr City last month has killed 925 people and wounded 2,605, a top government official said Wednesday.
Iraqis mourn outside the Sadr City hospital Wednesday after several people were killed in clashes.
Most of the casualties consist of civilians and "criminal elements attacked by us," said Tahseen al-Sheikhly, a spokesman for the Baghdad security crackdown called Operation Enforcing the Law.
Civilians are being caught in the crossfire because militants "use the population to cover themselves," al-Sheikhly said.
Earlier Wednesday, an Interior Ministry official said 321 people have been killed in Sadr City fighting this month. The reason for the discrepancy was unclear.
Word of the casualties came as the U.S. military said its highest death toll in seven months reflected an effort by Iraqi militants to reassert themselves after weeks of government crackdowns.
Two U.S. soldiers were killed Tuesday in Baghdad -- one by small-arms fire, another by a roadside bomb -- bringing the April death toll for the U.S. military to 46, the highest monthly tally since September.
Of the 46 deaths, most occurred in and around Baghdad and most were combat-related.
