American forces decapitated an Iraqi last year on the order of their higher-up, show recently-exposed US military documents.
The troops operated under the command of an unnamed US major, who had been involved in the rape of an Iraqi female, showed one such document posted on the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.
The incident took place after the victim, the brother of the raped female, reportedly killed a military official in reprisal for the indecent assault.
To enable the May incident in the city of Haditha of the western Iraq province of Al Anbar, the major said he was undertaking the transfer of two prisoners, including the victim.
WikiLeaks has released around 400,000 documents on the 2003-present US-led invasion of Iraq. The founder of the website, Julian Assange, has hailed the disclosure as one "about the truth" behind the war.