Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki condemned a U.S. raid Saturday in Baghdad's Shi'ite Sadr City slum in which American troops searching for Iranian-linked militants sparked a firefight that left 26 Iraqis dead.

The U.S. military said all those killed in the fighting were gunmen, some of them firing from behind civilian cars. But residents said eight civilians were killed in their homes and accused American troops of firing wildly during the predawn assault.

Sa

	Advertisement

Sadr City is the Iraqi capital's largest Shi'ite neighborhood - home to some 2.5 million people - making U.S. raids there potentially embarrassing for al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government. The district is also the stronghold of the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who was once al-Maliki's ally.

"The Iraqi government totally rejects U.S. military operations ... conducted without prior approval from the Iraqi military command," al-Maliki said in a statement. "Anyone who breaches the military command orders will face investigation."

Al-Maliki last year banned military operations in Sadr City without his approval after complaints from his Shi'ite political allies. The ban frustrated U.S. commanders pushing for a crackdown on the Mahdi Army, blamed for sectarian killings.

Al-Maliki later agreed that no area of the capital was off-limits, after U.S. President George W. Bush ordered reinforcements to Iraq as part of the Baghdad security operation.

Also Saturday, the military announced that two American soldiers were charged with the premeditated murder of three Iraqis and with planting weapons on the bodies to cover up the slayings, which took place between April and June near Iskandariyah, 50 kilometers south of Baghdad.

Staff Sgt. Michael A. Hensley from Candler, North Carolina, was jailed Thursday in Kuwait, facing three counts each of premeditated murder, obstructing justice and wrongfully placing the weapons. Spc. Jorge G. Sandoval, arrested at his home in Laredo, Texas, faces one count each of premeditated murder and planting a weapon.