A drone rigged with hidden explosives deployed by the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) has killed two Kurdish fighters and injured two French special operations troops near Mosul, AFP reported Wednesday (October 12th).

On October 2nd, a small plane with a styrofoam body was either shot down or crashed in Erbil in northern Iraq. Two local Peshmerga fighters grabbed it and took it back to their camp to inspect and photograph it, when it blew up.

A French source earlier confirmed the use of a "booby-trapped drone in Iraq", while another confirmed that two French soldiers were hurt in the incident.

One of the French soldiers has life-threatening injuries. Both have been flown back to France for treatment.

Coalition spokesman Col. John Dorrian described the incident as a "Trojan Horse-style" attack.

US defence officials said the military was deploying additional anti-drone technologies to the area, including systems that provide electronic jamming.

"We do not just let the enemy develop a capability that threatens our forces and those forces of our allies and partners and leave that threat unaddressed," Dorrian said.