ISIS fighters used a booby-trapped drone to kill two Kurdish fighters this month, in what Pentagon officials say may be a new effort by the organization, The New York Times reports.
Two French special forces troops also injured
The small, commercially available drone was shot down in Northern Iraq and taken back to an outpost, the Times writes. But during disassembly, the drone exploded, killing the two fighters. Le Monde reports that two members of French special forces were also injured by the explosion.
ISIS has previously used cheap drones for surveillance purposes, but the recent account suggests something different. Although there have been reports in the past of drones used as improvised tools of war, this appears to be one of the first by the Islamic State, and may point to a concerted plot: the Times reports that ISIS has attempted to use exploding drones at least two other times in the past month, and Iraq commanders have now issued a warning to treat any drone-like objects as potential explosive devices.
The technique used by ISIS in the attack may have been a simple one — ultimately only combining two widely available pieces of tech — but videos available online have purportedly shown other recent instances of drones used as explosives, suggesting the move may be one we see more of in the future.