Kurdish fighters

A Kurdish defence official told Reuters news agency that the drone exploded when the Peshmerga tried to pick it up after it had crashed to the ground.

The incident happened on 2 October, north of the IS-held city of Mosul.

IS militants are said to have tried to use drones to launch attacks at least two other times in the past month.

Among the victims of the explosions in the city of Hassakeh were a woman and her two children and several Kurdish fighters, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Islamic State group said in a statement that its two suicide bombers targeted a gathering of Kurdish fighters and pro-regime militias.