Afghan's claim he is 140 years old - making him the oldest person EVER to have lived - is investigated by the Taliban

The Taliban is investigating an Afghan man's assertion that helium is 140 years aged - which would make him the oldest idiosyncratic ever to person lived.

Aqel Nazir, who lives successful the country's eastbound Khost province, says helium was calved successful the 1880s.

He claims to remember celebrating the extremity of the Third Anglo-Afghan War successful 1919 alongside King Amanullah Khan, the Afghan person who launched a run against the British, portion successful his thirties.

Nazir, who lives successful the picturesque hills successful Khost, said: 'I was successful the palace with King Amanullah Khan.

'I was implicit 30 astatine the clip and I retrieve saying that the British had fled and knelt down.

'Everyone was blessed and thanked King Amanullah Khan for chasing the British away.

'Many leaders accompanied america to the Arg [presidential palace], but present each of them person passed away.'

The great-great gramps does not person immoderate documents to enactment his claim, but his household are besides connected committee with gaining authoritative designation of his status.

Khyal Wazir, his 50-year-old grandson, said: 'He is my grandfather, and I person my grandchildren arsenic well.'

Another grandson, Abdul Hakim Sabari, said: 'We petition the authorities corroborate our grandfather's property utilizing an ID oregon immoderate different technological method oregon documents, to beryllium helium is 140 years old.' 

In an effort to lick the mystery, the ruling Taliban medication has dispatched a a peculiar civilian registration squad to measure his existent age. 

Mustaghfar Gurbaz, a Taliban spokesperson for the province, said: 'If confirmed by documents oregon assessments, we volition enactment to registry him arsenic the oldest idiosyncratic successful the world.'

If verified, helium would comfortably instrumentality the rubric of the oldest idiosyncratic to person ever lived.

That grounds is held by Jeanne Calment, who was born successful 1875 and passed distant successful 1997, 122 years later.

The world's existent verified oldest surviving idiosyncratic is Inah Canabarro Lucas, a Brazilian nun who turned 116 past June.

Another Brazilian woman,  Deolira Gliceria Pedro da Silva, is hoping to person her ain assertion to beryllium 120 years of property verified by Guinness World Records.

But experts person already formed uncertainty connected Nazir's claims.

Valery Novoselov, a geriatrician astatine Moscow State University, told Russian outlet AIF: 'There are nary reliably registered men connected the satellite older than 114 to 115 years [of age].

'In the Caucasus successful the 60s, they besides recorded 'long-livers' - shepherds who allegedly lived to 168 years. 

'These are alleged games with age. There are nary documents, nary reliable information - which means this is an unrealistic picture.'

In 2015, a antheral claiming to beryllium 100 years aged applied for asylum successful Germany aft an bonzer eight-month travel from Afghanistan.

Like Nazir, Abdul Qadir Azizi did not person immoderate individuality papers, but his household claimed his twelvemonth of commencement was 1905. 

Azizi, who is deaf and blind, spent 1 period travelling crossed 2 continents from his location successful the Afghan municipality of Baghlan to scope Germany.

His household fled aft 3 of Azizi's sons were killed by the Taliban.

The plight of the aged successful Afghanistan has worsened since the Taliban takeover.

In 2024, they efficaciously abolished the pension system, leaving galore older Afghans struggling to conscionable basal needs.

Previously, anyone implicit the property of 65 received a monthly outgo of astir $100 from the state.