Five people died and 10 others were hospitalised after drinking methanol at an engagement party in Kabul, the capital of staunchly conservative Afghanistan, the interior ministry said on Sunday.
Alcohol is forbidden for Muslims in Afghanistan but is available on several European military bases, among a total of about 130,000 foreign troops in the country, and to an extensive Western diplomatic and international aid community.
While it is forbidden to sell alcohol, residents in the capital can readily point to shops where it is available under the counter, usually at heavily inflated prices. "There was an engagement ceremony and there were some young guys who found this alcohol and drank it. Five are dead and 10 more are at the hospital," said Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for the ministry.
He said police would investigate where the alcohol came from.
"It's not acceptable to drink stuff like this in public and it's against our Islamic law. There are different punishments for what they have done," he said, without giving details.
Afghan authorities periodically launch crackdowns against alcohol in the capital, including among passengers returning from overseas through Kabul International Airport, and there are heavy fines and other stern punishments that include flogging.
Methanol is used to make other chemicals, which in turn produce products such as plastics and paints and as fuel for vehicles. It is highly toxic when drunk by humans. Drinking alcohol in Afghanistan was rigorously banned during the rule of the Taliban from 1996-2001 and violators could be hanged in public.
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