Police have arrested close to 200 people in Pakistan in recent weeks after more than 10 group attacks on outlets of the United States-based fast-food chain KFC, sparked by anti-US sentiment, unconditional US backing for Washington’s close ally Israel and opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza, officials say.

The fast-food chain has become a target of protest and boycott calls by Islamist parties since the start of the war in Gaza as they link the brand to US support for Israel.

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At least 178 people have been arrested, the officials said this week.

Police in major cities in Pakistan – including the southern port city of Karachi, the eastern city of Lahore and the capital, Islamabad – confirmed at least 11 incidents in which KFC chicken restaurants were attacked by protesters armed with sticks and vandalised.

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 official added there was no protest at the time and police were investigating whether the killing was politically motivated or for some other reason.

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In Lahore, police said they were ramping up security at 27 KFC outlets after two attacks took place and five were prevented.

“We are investigating the role of different individuals and groups in these attacks,” Faisal Kamran, a senior Lahore police officer told the Reuters news agency, adding that 11 people, including a member of the Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), have been arrested in the city. He added the protests were not officially organised by the TLP.

TLP spokesman Rehan Mohsin Khan said 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,” Khan said.

Western brands have been hit by boycotts and other forms of protests in Pakistan, other Muslim-majority countries and several Western nations over Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

In February last year, McDonald’s cited boycott campaigns in the Middle East, Indonesia and Malaysia for sales growing just 0.7 percent during the fourth quarter of 2023, compared with 16.5 percent growth in the same quarter the previous year.

Unilever – which produces Dove soap, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Knorr stock cubes – also said sales in Indonesia in the same quarter had experienced a double-digit decline as a result of “geopolitically focused, consumer-facing campaigns”.

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A KFC restaurant in the Pakistan-administered region of Kashmir was also set on fire in March last year as protesters chanted “Free Palestine.”

More than 51,900 people have been killed in Gaza during Israel’s war, which began 18 months ago.

At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, and more than 200 were taken captive.

KFC and its parent company Yum Brands have not yet responded to news of the arrests in Pakistan.