Now, birds as suicide bombers!

Terrorists the world over are known to deploy suicide bombers, or ‘human bombs’, to wreak death and devastation on their targets, but have you ever heard of a bird being used as a suicide bomber? The Taliban seem to be using such a strategy and the Afghan police reportedly shot dead a bird which had been equipped by the militants with an explosive pouch, a GPS tracker and a detonator. The bird had several wires protruding from its feathers, a mobile phone detonator and a specially designed ‘suicide vest.’ Alert officers spotted the suspicious-looking bird in Faryab province in northern Afghanistan, near the border with Turkmenistan and their suspicions increased as the large bird is not known to be native to the area. The bird exploded when it was shot and ‘suspicious metal stuff’ was scattered around, Abdul Nabi Ilham of the Afghan police told NBC News in an interview on Monday. Ilham added: ‘We are gathering all the stuff, but (we have) found parts of what looks to be GPS and a small camera.’ With most foreign combat troops preparing to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, after 13 years of war the Taliban are increasingly targeting the bases of security forces and military and civilian installations across the country, including Kabul. Taliban fighters have recently entered Camp Bastion, a large base in the southern Helmand province handed over to Afghan troops a month ago by the withdrawing US and British forces. They also targeted a foreign guesthouse in western Kabul last Saturday. The attack was the latest in a string of bombings that have targeted dozens of military and civilian installations in Kabul over the past couple of weeks, according to a news agency.