21.04.2025 (04:30 PM)

Police in Pakistan have arrested about 160 people after 20 separate attacks on KFC restaurants by mobs, including one employee, the government said on April 19.

The fast-food chain, which was founded by the United States and has been the target of protests and boycotts by Islamist parties since the start of the war in Gaza over its support for Israel.

This month, mobs have protested outside KFC stores, smashing windows, setting fires and threatening employees.

“There have been 20 attacks across Pakistan, killing one person. The deceased was a KFC employee,” Deputy Interior Minister Taleb Chaudhry told a news conference on April 19, adding that KFC outlets have been targeted.

On April 13, a KFC employee was shot dead at a branch in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province.

A police official told AFP that it was not clear whether the motive for the shooting was related to the recent protests.

Police said that Asif Nawaz, a 45-year-old KFC employee, was killed in the incident during the protests in the city of Sheikhupura. Nawaz was shot in the shoulder while he was in the kitchen at the time of the incident.

Chaudhry said 145 people had been arrested in Punjab province and 15 in the capital Islamabad in connection with the attacks.

“All these outlets are locally sourced and the employees are Pakistanis. All the revenue from these outlets is in the country,” he said.

KFC and its parent company Yum did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A KFC restaurant on the Pakistani side of Kashmir was set on fire in March last year by protesters chanting “Free Palestine.”

On October 7, 2023, the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip said 5,157 people had been killed in the war that began with Hamas’ attacks on Israel.

AFP could not independently verify the figures.

Israel’s official figures put the death toll from Hamas attacks on Israel at 1,218. The vast majority of Israeli casualties were civilians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said the main objective of the war is to destroy Hamas as a military and administrative entity.