The amount of terror operatives at the disposal of Islamic State in Iraq has fallen to such a level that cows are being rigged with remote-controlled bombs and herded into built-up areas before they are exploded.

Two of the booby-trapped bovines were spotted by residents in Al Islah, Iraq, on Saturday, strapped with explosive vests on the northern side of the village, according to local police commander Col. Ghalib Al-Atyia in Diyala Province.

One bomb was detonated remotely when a cow was close to houses, killing the animal and damaging properties.

However Col. Ghalib Al-Atyia said no one was harmed in the operation, according to the New York Times.

The colonel told how Islamic State forces have been so degraded by constant attacks they are resorting to other methods to continue to prosecute their four-year fight against Iraqi security forces.

This is not the first time jihadis have tried to use farm animals in their quest for global domination.

The Independent reported that research charity Action on Armed Violence has recorded six incidents of “donkey-borne IEDs” since 2010, which killed a total of 14 people. All of the incidents were in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Islamic State had another dairy-related scheme stopped when Lebanese authorities thwarted a plot to bomb last year’s Lebanese parliamentary elections.

The group smuggled explosives into the country in buckets of cheese but a police surveillance operation uncovered the plan in an operation codenamed “Lethal Cheese”.