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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Fighting and other violence in Iraq killed at least 1,375 people including 790 civilians in January, the United Nations said on Sunday.

The dead included 585 members of the Iraqi army which is struggling to rebuild itself after Islamic State militants seized large sections of the country last year.

At least 2,240 civilians and soldiers were wounded during the same period, the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq said in a statement.

(Reporting By Stephen Kalin; Editing by Ned Parker and Andrew Heavens)

Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - Nigeria’s military on Sunday repelled a Boko Haram assault on the key northeastern city of Maiduguri, as violence raged across the region just two weeks before national elections.

The hours-long attack on the strategic capital of Borno state was the Islamists’ second attempt to take Maiduguri in a week.

Separately, a suicide bomber killed seven people in Potiskum, the economic capital of neighbouring Yobe state.

With near-relentless violence plaguing much of the northeast, and Boko Haram still in control of large swathes of territory in the region, fears are mounting over the prospect of organising polls on February 14.

The opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), which claims to be gaining momentum in the campaign against President Goodluck Jonathan, has rejected a call by the national security advisor for the vote to be postponed.

But hundreds of thousands of voters in the northeast, an APC stronghold, could be disenfranchised by the unrest if the election goes ahead in two weeks.

- ‘Massive’ insurgent casualties –

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The leader of the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram Abubakar Shekau holding up a flag as he delive …

Heavily-armed gunmen attacked the southern edge of Maiduguri at roughly 3:00 am (0200 GMT), setting off explosives as they tried to enter the city, several residents said.

Repelled in the south by troops backed by vigilantes, they regrouped and tried to take the city from the east, where they again met stiff resistance.

As the gunbattles raged, "the whole city (was) in fear,”"said resident Adam Krenuwa, adding that people were afraid of the consequences should Boko Haram overrun Maiduguri, where the extremist group was founded more than a decade ago.

Defence spokesman Chris Olukolade said the assault was "contained" and that “the terrorists incurred massive casualties."

"The situation is calm as mopping up operation in the affected area is ongoing," he wrote in a text message, a claim consistent with witness reports.

Despite waves of attacks in the city in recent months, Maiduguri has become a place of refuge for people forced to flee other areas in Borno that have been taken over by the Islamist rebels.

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President Goodluck Jonathan speaks to displaced people from Baga in a Maiduguri camp on January 15, …

- Campaign meeting attacked –

In Potiskum, a bomber blew himself up shortly after midday outside the home of Sabo Garbu, who is running for a seat in the lower house of parliament on behalf of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).

A bus stopped outside his home and dropped off the attacker before speeding away, multiple witnesses said.

Seven people died in the blast and seven others were injured, said a police officer at the scene who requested anonymity, in an account supported by three witnesses.

Garbu and those attending his campaign meeting reportedly escaped unhurt.

Boko Haram has carried out dozens of similar bombings throughout its six-year uprising, which has claimed more than 13,000 lives.

But it was not immediately clear why the Islamists would have specifically targeted Garbu and it was possible that another group with a separate political motive was responsible for the attack.

- Polls in two weeks -

Election officials have insisted the vote will go ahead on February 14, but conceded that voting will be impossible across much of the northeast.

Foreign observers have said that they will not even attempt to monitor polling in the region because of the unrest.

Jonathan, who is facing a stiff challenge from former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, has repeatedly sought to assure Nigerians that Boko Haram could be contained.

But those promises have consistently proved hollow, with the violence having escalated each year under his watch and his management of the crisis being fiercely criticised, including during the presidential campaign.

Buhari, a former army general who briefly led the country as a military dictator in the mid-1980s, has told voters that he will be able to curb the bloodshed but has so far not released a specific plan to deal with Boko Haram that he would implement if elected.

Baghdad (AFP) - The Islamic State group beheaded an Iraqi police officer and two soldiers, the latest in a long series of atrocities committed by the jihadists, according to pictures posted online Sunday.

In one photo, a blindfolded man said to be a police lieutenant colonel kneels in a street in front of a row of gunmen.

A masked militant is then shown beheading the victim with a machete, after which his severed head is placed atop his body and the machete driven into his back.

Another photo shows an overweight masked militant apparently struggling to behead a man identified as a captured Iraqi soldier.

A second soldier was beheaded at the same location, according to another photo of the scene.

The authenticity of the photos could not be independently confirmed.

IS spearheaded a sweeping militant offensive in June that overran large areas north and west of Baghdad, and also holds significant territory in neighbouring Syria.

The brutal militant group has killed thousands of people in both countries, some of them in highly-choreographed videotaped sequences in which the victims are beheaded.

Iraqi security forces, backed by Kurdish troops, Shiite militias, Sunni tribesmen and a US-led campaign of air strikes, have managed to regain some ground from IS.

But the jihadists still control significant territory, including three major cities.

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi

AMMAN (Reuters) - The fate of a Jordanian pilot held by Islamic State has raised public pressure on King Abdullah over his country's role in the U.S-led military campaign against the hardline group in Syria, fuelling the risk of broader discontent in the U.S. ally.

After his capture in December, militants released pictures of the young pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh being led out of the water by fighters. His F-16 jet had smashed onto the banks of the Euphrates River in Islamic State's stronghold in northern Syria.

The images of the young, newly-wed pilot shocked Jordanians and brought home the stakes of the U.S.-ally's involvement the war. King Abdullah has defended the campaign, saying that moderate Muslims need to combat a group whose ideology and brutality have insulted the spirit of Islam.

But in Kasaesbeh's hometown of Karak dozens of young people protested, chanting anti-coalition slogans and calling on the King to pull out of the campaign.

"We will not be a sacrificial cow for America!" angry youths chanted last month in a city whose tribes have long been a bulwark of support for the Hashemite monarchy.

Although few believe the crisis will compel Jordan to withdraw completely from the campaign, it may take a more low-key role like in the past, analysts and diplomats say.

King Abdullah's father, King Hussein, did not take part in a U.S.-led military campaign against former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein after his invasion of Kuwait in 1990, going along with public opinion which was against military involvement.

By contrast, his son has taken a bolder role in this campaign by sending its jets to Syria - the first time Jordan took part on bombing missions abroad rather than just providing intelligence and logistical support.

King Abdullah's stance stems from his concern about the heightened threat of jihadis to his kingdom. Al Qaeda launched a series of deadly attacks in Jordan including a bombing on a hotel in Amman in 2005, killing 60 people.

Islamic State has called for the release of Sajida al-Rishawi, one of the hotel attackers who was convicted after her explosive belt failed to detonate. It has said it will spare Kasaesbeh's life if she is let go but has not said it will release the pilot.

"IT'S OUR WAR"

Seeking to rally his people, King Abdullah has said concern about the pilot's plight united all Jordanians and his capture proved the war must be won. But as he comforted Kasaesbeh's parents and wife in the royal palace, demonstrations took place.

"There is not a hour in the day that me and the armed forces are not working on this, our hero the pilot. Unfortunately the war today is one within the Islamic world and it's our war," the King told a group of tribal elders in a visit ten days ago.

The case has polarized Jordanians. Nationalists say it is not time for recriminations and have called for rallying behind the throne while others say they will lay the blame on the country's political rulers if the pilot is killed.

"People will blame the Jordanian regime and they will say why did you send him to this war. No one will blame Islamic State if it executes him, it will only increase support for them," said Ali Dalaen, a former deputy from the pilot's hometown.

He led a demonstration on Friday calling for an end to military involvement and accusing the government of not negotiating seriously with Islamic State.

Some Jordanians have even raised fears that Jordan would send land troops to battle Islamic State, which is also known by the Arabic acronym Daesh.

"We insist this is not our war and if Daesh unfortunately sacrifices our son, we hope the wisdom of the government and the King would be furthest away from participating in a land campaign," said Hind al-Fayez, a deputy from the powerful Bani Sakhr tribe. Her comments provoked a strong backlash.

Islamic State has released three emotive videos in response to repeated appeals by the family. The group says their son's bombing missions had been responsible for the deaths of women and children.

Observers say Islamic State is trying to deepen domestic rifts in a country whose security forces are growing increasingly alarmed by the appeal of jihadist ideology, especially in impoverished cities across the kingdom.

Dozens of youths even from the pilot's hometown have traveled over the border to fight alongside hardline groups in Syria and as far away as Afghanistan.

"It's an impossible situation for (Jordan). They don’t have a decent hand," a Western diplomat in Amman said.

"It's clear that Daesh (Islamic State) is looking to manipulate the political space with Jordan, and unfortunately they are very adept at that."

(Editing by Sylvia Westall and Anna Willard)