ASADABAD, Sept 21: At least 100 Afghan policemen and government officials, including a deputy provincial governor, were poisoned after eating their evening meal, officials said on Sunday.

A man claiming to be a Taliban commander in the region said he had carried out the mass poisoning but Nato’s military force, which offered medical treatment, said it was believed to be a straightforward case of food poisoning.

Ajab Khan said he had carried out the mass poisoning which affected 300 people.

About 100 men fell ill in the eastern province of Nuristan on Saturday after breaking their fast, deputy provincial governor Abdul Halim told AFP.

They had all eaten food prepared in the kitchen of the governor which feeds some provincial authorities and policemen who guard the compound.

“After we had our iftar, about 100 people felt really ill,” he said, adding many had fainted.

Halim said he had also taken ill but had recovered by Sunday. The provincial police chief was however still being treated in a clinic, he said.

The source of the poisoning appeared to have been the bread but it was being investigated.

Nato’s International Security Assistance Force, in Afghanistan to help the government defeat a Taliban-led insurgency, said about 160 people were treated at a clinic and 200 more at a local police station.

“Although the cause of the illness is not fully understood it is believed to be a straightforward case of food poisoning and the matter is being investigated by the Afghan National Police,” it said in a statement.

Nuristan is a rural and mountainous province on the border with Afghanistan.

It has seen attacks by Taliban militants.—AFP