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."

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 2:30 am (2330 GMT)," 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.

A US military spokesman confirmed that a woman was killed during the raid, saying "she was in the area during the engagement with a suspect, moved into the line of fire, and was struck by gunfire."

The spokesman would not immediately provide further details on the target of the operation or say whether anyone had been arrested, citing security reasons.

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 arming, funding and training sectarian militias in Iraq, charges denied by Tehran.

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