BAGHDAD: The Iraqi military detained two of its own commanders yesterday after the Defense Ministry said US forces had carried out a deadly house raid without the knowledge of the Iraqi government.
Defense ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mohammed Al-Askari told AFP the two provincial commanders stand accused of “permitting an American military force to carry out a security operation after 1.00 a.m. without the knowledge of the defense ministry or the Iraqi government.” The US military insisted the raid was “fully coordinated and approved by the Iraqi government” and was aimed at Shiite insurgents. A landmark security pact signed with the US in November requires that all military operations in Iraq be conducted with the agreement of the Iraqi government and be “fully coordinated” with local authorities.
The same pact requires that US troops withdraw from all Iraqi cities and major towns by June 30 and from the country as a whole by the end of 2011.
In yesterday’s pre-dawn incident a woman and a policeman were shot dead during a US raid on a house in the southern town of Kut near the Iranian border.
An Iraqi security official confirmed the deaths and said another five people were arrested in the raid.
“American forces detained five people, including a police captain and a tribal leader, during the raid, which was carried out at 2.30 a.m.,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
A medic at a nearby hospital said it had received the body of a woman who had been shot in the stomach and the shoulder and a man who had been shot in the head.
Iraq’s Interior Ministry — which controls the country’s police force — has sent a special delegation to Kut to investigate the incident.
The US military confirmed the raid and said it had arrested six alleged members of Shiite militant groups it suspects of having received funding, arms and training from Iran.
