FACT CHECK: Liquor bottles were recovered from Czech embassy, not Afghan ex-foreign minister's house

Social media. users claim that Taliban members discovered liquor in the house of Afghanistan's former foreign minister Salahuddin Rabbani.

By Tejal Sinha  Published on  23 Sep 2021 5:45 AM GMT
FACT CHECK: Liquor bottles were recovered from Czech embassy, not Afghan ex-foreign ministers house

Hyderabad: Social media. users claim that Taliban members discovered liquor in the house of Afghanistan's former foreign minister Salahuddin Rabbani.

The clip, which shows a group of men in a room full of liquor bottles, has been viewed more than 10,000 times.

"Taliban says they have discovered alcoholic drinks storage room in Salahuddin Rabbani's house in Kabul. Mr. Rabbani is the leader of Jamiat-e-Islami & former foreign minister," reads the English-language caption.


https://m.facebook.com/groups/496099220549389/permalink/1978847508941212/

A longer version of the video was also shared with a similar claim

Fact Check

The claim is False.

NewsMeter performed a reverse image search and found a report by a Czech news website Aktualne.cz on September 14, 2021, "The Taliban takes over the warehouse of the Czech embassy. Becherovka and mustard have been seized," reads the report.

The report states that the footage shows numerous reserves of alcohol and bottles on the premises of the Czech embassy in Kabul. It quotes Salahuddin Rabbani debunking the rumors. "It is not my house, but the Czech embassy. It is propaganda against me," he wrote on Facebook.

Another Czech website reports that the former Czech Ambassador to Kabul JiÅ™Ć­ Baloun watched the footage. Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the footage does indeed show the premises of the Czech embassy.

https://www.expats.cz/czech-news/article/czech-morning-news-in-brief-top-headlines-for-september-15-2021-1

NewsMeter also looked through the Czech embassy building pictures and found that those match with viral images.



Clearly, the viral video is from the Czech embassy not the house of Afghanistan's former foreign minister. Thus, the claim is false.

Claim Review:Taliban members discovered liquor in the warehouse of Afghanistan's former foreign minister.
Claimed By:Social Media Users
Claim Reviewed By:Newsmeter
Claim Source:Social Media
Claim Fact Check:False
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