US says its raid in southern Iraq had Baghdad’s approval

Washington, 27 April (WashingtonTV)—The US military on Sunday insisted that a raid it had conducted in the southern Iraqi city of Kut, was approved by the Iraqi government, despite Baghdad’s insistence that the action violated a US-Iraqi security pact.

In a pre-dawn raid targeting Shiite militants, US forces shot dead an Iraqi woman and policeman, and detained six others. In a statement, the US military said that the woman was killed after she “moved into the line of fire.”

“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,” the statement said.

However, an official in the office of Major-General Qassim Moussawi, Baghdad’s security spokesperson, said that the raid was “a violation of the security pact,” reports Reuters.

Under the security pact that came into force earlier this year, US troops can no longer conduct military operations in Iraq without the government’s approval.

Iraq’s Interior Ministry sent a special delegation to Kut to investigate the incident. According to Reuters, the committee “managed to get the six people detained by the Americans released.”

The US military said the six people were accused of receiving funds, arms and training from Iran.

The Iraqi military yesterday detained two of its own commanders, accused of permitting the US military of carrying out the operation “without the knowledge of the defense ministry of the Iraqi government,” Defense Ministry spokesperson, Major-General Mohammad al-Askari, told AFP.

Sources: Multi-National Force in Iraq website, Reuters, Agence France-Presse

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