Police have arrested hundreds of people in Pakistan in recent weeks following more than ten mob attacks on KFC restaurants, which were spurred by anti-US sentiment and opposition to Israel’s conflict in Gaza, according to officials.
Police in key cities across the Islamic nation, including Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, confirmed at least 11 cases in which KFC stores were attacked and trashed by demonstrators armed with sticks.
Officials reported last week that at least 178 people had been arrested.
At least 178 people were arrested, the officials said this week.
A police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said one KFC employee was shot and killed this week in a store on the outskirts of Lahore by unknown gunmen.
The officer noted that there was no protest at the time, and they were looking into whether the death was motivated by political passion or something else.
In Lahore, police claimed they were beefing up security at 27 KFC locations across the city after two attacks and five more were foiled.
TLP spokesperson Rehan Mohsin Khan stated that the group “has urged Muslims to boycott Israeli products, but it has not called for a protest outside KFC.”
KFC has long been regarded as a symbol of the United States in Pakistan, and it has been the target of anti-American sentiment in recent decades, including protests and attacks.
In recent months, western companies have faced boycotts and other kinds of protest in Pakistan and other Muslim-majority countries in response to Israel’s military incursion in the Gaza Strip.
