Violence in Iraq has killed more than 500 people in May, AFP figures showed on Tuesday, as authorities struggled to contain a wave of sectarian unrest.

Meanwhile the UN envoy to Iraq urged the country’s leaders to meet to resolve long-running political crises that have paralyzed the government and been linked to its inability to reduce the violence.

People gather at the site of a bomb attack in Baquba, about 30 miles northeast of Baghdad, May 17, 2013. Two bombs exploded outside a Sunni Muslim mosque in the Iraqi city of Baquba as worshippers left after Friday prayers, killing at least 43 people in one of the deadliest attacks in a month-long surge in sectarian violence. Attacks on Sunni and Shi’a mosques, security forces and Sunni tribal leaders have spread since troops raided a Sunni protest camp near Kirkuk a month ago, and fears are intensifying of a return to all-out Shi’a-Sunni conflict. REUTERS/Stringer

As of Monday, 503 people were killed and 1,273 wounded, making May the deadliest month in at least a year, according to the data, based on reports from security and medical officials.

May is the second month in a row in which more than 400 people have been killed, for a total exceeding 960 people in less than two months.

But the United Nations recorded a significantly higher death toll of 712 for April, making it the deadliest month since June 2008

A wave of car bombs in and around Baghdad killed dozens of people on Monday and wounded hundreds more, officials said.

“I once again urge all Iraqi leaders to do everything possible to protect Iraqi civilians. It is their responsibility to stop the bloodshed now,” UN envoy Martin Kobler said in a statement on Tuesday.

“It is the politicians’ responsibility to act immediately and to engage in dialogue to resolve the political impasse and not let terrorists benefit from their political differences,” he said.

Iraq is faced with various long-running political crises, over issues ranging from power-sharing to territorial boundaries, that have paralyzed the government.

The US Embassy, meanwhile, issued a statement in which it said it “strongly condemns the wave of bombings,” expressing condolences to the victims.

Iraq has seen a heightened level of violence since the beginning of the year, coinciding with rising discontent among Iraqi Sunnis that erupted into protests in late December.  

  — AFP