Iraq detains commanders after US raid

Iraq detained two of its own army commanders on Sunday after the US military carried out a deadly house raid without the knowledge of the Iraqi government, the defence ministry said. Defence ministry spokesman Major General 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 am (2200 GMT) without the knowledge of the defence 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 militants. A landmark security pact signed with the United States in November requires that all military operations in Iraq be conducted with the agreement of the Iraqi government and be "fully coordinated" with Iraqi 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 Sunday'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 2:30am (0930 AEST)," 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. The US military confirmed the raid and said it had arrested six suspected members of Shiite militant groups it suspects of having received funding, arms and training from Iran. "In an operation fully coordinated and approved by the Iraqi government, coalition forces targeted a network financier, who is also responsible for smuggling weapons into the country," it said in a statement. "As forces approached (the financier's) residence an individual with a weapon came out of the home. Forces assessed him to be hostile, and they engaged the man, killing him." It said the woman killed during the raid "moved into the line of fire" and died of her gunshot wounds after receiving treatment from an army medic. In June 2008 US forces arrested six men they accused of being part of an Iranian-trained militia in Kut, a mostly Shiite town. The US military has long accused Iran of supporting sectarian militias in Iraq, charges denied by Tehran.