In the early hours of Tuesday, 7 April 2026, at 12:15 a.m. a married couple was killed and their children were injured when an explosive-laden suicide drone allegedly launched by the Iranian military struck their family home in Zargazoy village, located within the Darashkaran district of Erbil Governorate, Iraq. The deceased were identified as 39-year-old Musa Anwar Rasul (a member of the Peshmerga forces) and his 35-year-old wife, Muzhda Asaad Hassan, while their children, Malin Rasul and Dilin Rasul, survived. Based on Musa's membership in the Peshmerga, the armed forces for the Kurdistan region, he has been excluded from the civilian harm toll.
While most sources indicated the couple’s two young daughters survived without physical injuries, a report from the Governor of Erbil noted that the two children sustained minor injuries during the strike. In a video shared by @Kurdistan on Facebook, Malin and Dilin are seen crying and saying “I want my mom and dad.”
On Facebook, Saja Al-Bayati lamented the fate of two young girls, writing: “What was the sin of these two orphaned children, now without a father and mother? May God avenge those responsible.” She shared a family picture in front of an orange tree.
Musa Rasul was repeatedly referred to by the sources as a “Peshmerga fighter” and was photographed in a military uniform in an image posted by @Naz Seyed on Facebook. As Peshmerga are the official military forces of the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq, Musa Rasul has been graded as combatant by Airwars and excluded from the list of civilian casualties.
According to official statements from the Kurdistan Region’s Counter-Terrorism Directorate and the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs, the attack involved up to three explosive-laden drones launched from Iranian territory, targeting the residential home simultaneously with a drone strike on a nearby Peshmerga base in the Raparin administration. The Directorate stated that the attack happened at 12:15 a.m. and attributed the attack to the Iranian military.
The images shared by Al Jazeera – Iraq and other media outlets showed the family house severely damaged, with a large hole in the roof, rubble and shattered glass on the ground, and children’s toys scattered around.
Top Kurdish officials, including President Nechirvan Barzani and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, heavily condemned the strike.
Where sources identified the belligerent, all sources attributed the strike to the Iranian military. Also, responsibility for the drone strikes in the wider Kurdistan region was claimed by an Iran-affiliated armed group calling itself the “Army of Wrath,” identifying as part of the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq.” The group stated that “the attacks were launched against regional interests in retaliation for the deaths of senior Iranian and regional military leaders.” However, as the group did not specify the exact location of the strike, the strike status of the incident has been graded as “likely” rather than “declared.”