A different kind of bird strike: Afghan police discover explosives inside animal after shooting it dead when they found antenna sticking out of it

• Afghan police have shot dead a large bird carrying a suspected bomb
• Officers opened fire after spotting wires coming out of its feathers
• The bird was equipped with a GPS tracker and mobile phone detonator
• This comes as the last NATO troops prepare to leave Afghanistan
• Taliban insurgents have increased the number of attacks on Afghan troops
• Police complain they have not got enough weapons to cope with attacks

By Darren Boyle for MailOnline

Published: 22:42 EST, 30 November 2014 | Updated: 22:54 EST, 30 November 2014

Afghan police shot dead a bird which had been equipped by the Taliban with an explosive pouch, GPS tracker and detonator.

Alert officers spotted the suspicious bird in the Faryab province in the north of the country, near the border with Turkmenistan.

The bird had several wires protruding from its feathers, a mobile phone detonator and a specially designed 'suicide vest'.

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Afghan police shot dead the suspicious-looking large bird, pictured, in the north of the country

After killing the bird, soldiers found what appeared to be a GPS transmitter, pictured,

Afghan soliders claimed the bird was also carrying an explosive device when it was shot

Police were also suspicious about the large bird, because it was not native to the area.

Major General Abdul Nabi Ilham told NBC News that the bird exploded when it was shot and 'suspicious metal stuff' was scattered around.

Ilham added; 'We are gathering all the stuff, but found parts of what looks to be GPS and a small camera.'

The success in Faryab Province comes as the Afghan district police chief in Helmand Province, Ahmadullah Anwari, complained that his officers are suffering from major weapon and equipment shortages.

Anwari said despite his officers facing constant attacks from Taliban insurgents, he can only supply each checkpoint in his district with just three hand grenades.

He said: 'Sometimes up to 200 Taliban attack our checkpoints and if there are no army reinforcements, we lose the fight

'It shames me to say that we don't have enough weapons and equipment. But this is a bitter reality.'

As most foreign combat troops prepare to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014 after 13 years of war, the experiences of Anwari and other police chiefs and army commanders across the country are NATO's biggest worry.

One of the electric components found strapped to the dead bird was from Uzbekistan

Afghan police found the suspected bomb after they shot the suspicious-looking bird dead

The United States, which provides the bulk of NATO troops in Afghanistan, has poured some $61 billion into training a 350,000-strong security force.

U.S. and Afghan commanders have praised the bravery and effectiveness of local soldiers, police and others in the face of a Taliban onslaught that has killed more than 4,600 Afghan security force members already this year.

When insurgents attacked a foreign guest house in central Kabul last Thursday, Afghan commandos killed the attackers, but international helicopters and special forces helped in the mop-up operation that lasted hours.

Taliban fighters also entered Camp Bastion, a large base in the southern Helmand province handed over to Afghan troops a month ago by withdrawing U.S. and British forces. It took Afghan soldiers three days to drive the insurgents out.

The Taliban launched a suicide bomb attack on a compound used by the US-based charity PAD, pictured

Well-equipped members of the Afghan National Army, pictured, have been training in Kabul

However, local police chiefs complain that their men are being starved of equipment and weapons

In the capital Kabul, the local police chief resigned yesterday after Taliban gunmen killed three members of a South African family in the capital.

The guest house attacked by the Taliban in Kabul on Saturday - the third attack on a foreign guest house in 10 days - was home to staff of the U.S.-based charity Partnership in Academics and Development (PAD).

PAD said on its website that three people were killed by insurgents who used guns and explosives. They were identified as members of the same South African family - a father and his two teenage children - by a colleague of the mother, who was not in the compound at the time.

The family had lived in Afghanistan for nearly 12 years, with the father running the charity and the mother working as a doctor at a Kabul clinic, the colleague said.

NATO troops are due to pull out of Afghanistan by the end of December leaving the Afghan National Army with responsibility for the country's security, although limited NATO air support will be made available

The Taliban said on Saturday they had attacked the foreign guesthouse because they believed it to be a Christian centre. This was the second time this year the Taliban targeted a group that it said had links to Christianity.

Violence across Afghanistan has surged this year as the Taliban and their allies have stepped up their activities ahead of the scheduled withdrawal of most international troops by the end of next month.

Over the past 10 days, three compounds used by foreign organisations have been hit by armed attackers. In separate attacks in Kabul, two American soldiers, two British embassy workers and dozens of Afghan civilians have died.