More than 170 arrested for anti-Israel protests at KFC branches across Pakistan

Police have arrested scores of people in Pakistan in recent weeks after more than 10 mob attacks on outlets of US fast-food chain KFC, sparked by anti-US sentiment and opposition to its ally Israel’s war in Gaza, officials say.

Police in major cities in the Islamic nation, including the southern port city of Karachi, the eastern city of Lahore and the capital Islamabad, have confirmed at least 11 incidents in which KFC outlets were attacked by protesters armed with sticks and vandalised. At least 178 people were arrested, the officials said this week.

KFC and its parent company, Yum Brands, both US-based, have not responded to requests for comment.

A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, says one KFC employee was shot and killed this week in a store on the outskirts of Lahore by unknown gunmen. The official adds that there was no protest at the time and they were investigating whether the killing was motivated by political sentiment or some other reason.

In Lahore, police say they are ramping up security at 27 KFC outlets around the city after two attacks took place and five others were prevented.

“We are investigating the role of different individuals and groups in these attacks,” says Faisal Kamran, a senior Lahore police officer, adding that 11 people, including a member of the Islamist religious party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, were arrested in the city. He adds that the protests were not officially organised by TLP.

TLP spokesman Rehan Mohsin Khan says the group “has urged Muslims to boycott Israeli products, but it has not given any call for protest outside KFC.”

“If any other person claiming to be a TLP leader or activist has indulged in such activity, it should be taken as his personal act which has nothing to do with the party’s policy,” says Khan.