The figure is "an estimate and a subjective number," a Pentagon spokesman, Lieutenant Commander Greg Hicks, told AFP Sunday.

The Pentagon does not publish precise figures on the Iraqi casualties because it does not have reliable data, he said.

The evaluation was made from a bar chart illustrating the average number of victims per day -- Iraqis and members of the US-led coalition -- during certain political situations in Iraq.

The graphic is part of a Pentagon report to the US Congress titled "Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq," revised on October 13.

According to the chart, the baseline is the period between January 1 and March 31, 2004, when more than 25 Iraqis were killed or injured per day.

The average number rises to 30 per day in the period April 1-June 28, 2004, the period called "pre-sovereignty," then to 40 per day in the "sovereignty" period of June 29 to November 26.

The casualties climb to more than 50 per day on average during the "election" period from November 27, 2004 to February 11, 2005.

The toll slips slightly below 50 in the "pre-constitution" period from February 12 to August 28.

It climbs above 60 during the "referendum" period of August 29 to October

The estimates are based on initial incident reports collected by subordinate units in the coalition force in Iraq since June 2003, Hicks said.

According to an AFP tally, based on Pentagon statistics, the number of US military personnel killed in the Iraq operation since the March 2003 US-led invasion is 2,014.