KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait (AFP) — Eleven-year-old Elena Abdullah Hussein told her father she loved him and went to sleep in Kuwait, where her Iranian family lives. Moments later, Iranian drone debris slammed into her room, killing her in her sleep.

The family had been sheltering in the basement of their building since Iran began their retaliation campaign in the Gulf on Saturday, following US-Israeli strikes that decimated its leadership.

But on Tuesday night, as the bombing seemed to slow down, the family decided to go back up to their apartment.

“Elena called me about two hours before the incident and said: ‘Dad, I had dinner and I’m going to bed… I love you,'” said her father Abdullah Hussein, who was working late that day at his fabrics company.

“It was as if she was trying to say goodbye,” he added, holding back tears.

AFP met the family at the funeral in Kuwait, where her father was dressed in the white traditional dress of the Gulf and spoke in Arabic.

Her mother was too grief-stricken to speak.

Hundreds of people attended the funeral at the Sulaibikhat cemetery.

He said he had been moved by the support he received in Kuwait, with many people expressing sympathy and solidarity with him and his family.

Some of Elena’s young friends were dressed in white sweatshirts with a picture of her face.

Kuwait hosts a large community of Iranians among its population of foreigners, who make up about 70 percent of the tiny country’s residents.

Shrapnel from an Iranian drone struck the roof of the family’s second-floor apartment, hitting her directly in her sleep.

She was sleeping in the same room as her younger sister, who sustained minor injuries, and mother, who was unharmed.

Rescuers tried to resuscitate her in the ambulance and at the hospital, but she died from her injuries.

“My daughter was good, compassionate and smart,” her father said with tears in his eyes.

“She was a blessing from God… and God willed that she return to Him.”

Eight of the 13 people killed in the Gulf since the war began were in Kuwait, the country with the highest death toll in the region.

Most were US and Kuwaiti army personnel but there were also two civilians among the dead, including young Elena.

The United States has had a significant military presence in Kuwait since Washington came to the Gulf country’s aid after Iraq invaded in 1990.

Elena’s uncle Mohamed Hussein Abdullah Nia said the family was still in shock and had not been able to break the news to her younger sister.

“The shock is immense… her mother and the rest of the children in the family are crying constantly,” he said.

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