Iraqi officials said on Thursday that nearly 2,000 civilians had died in January, a new monthly high that suggests that a crackdown by the government of prime minister Nouri al-Maliki against militias has failed to yield any immediate results.

An interior ministry spokesman was quoted by Reuters as saying that 1,971 people had been killed by “terrorism” in January, compared to 1,930 in December. The spokesman could not be reached independently for comment.