Islamabad: About 160 people were arrested after crowds led 20 separate attacks on KFC restaurants with a slaughtered employee, the government announced on Saturday, April 19.
The fast -based fast food chain has become a target of protests and boycott calls by Islamist parties since the start of the war in Gaza, connecting the brand for American support to Israel.
The crowds protested outside KFC several times this month, breaking the windows, putting fires and threatening the staff.
“A total of 20 incidents occurred through Pakistan with a reported death. The man was a member of KFC staff,” Deputy Minister Talal Chaudhry said on a press conference on Saturday, describing the KFC as “under attack”.
The KFC employee was killed in a branch on the outskirts of Lahore, the capital of the province of Punjab.
A police official told AFP that he was not clear what was the reason for the shooting or if he was linked to the recent demonstrations.
Chaudhry said that 145 people had been arrested in the Punjab province and 15 in the Islamabad national capital during the attack series.
“These restaurants get their supplies locally and employ Pakistani staff, and their earnings remain in the country,” he said.
KFC and his parent company Yum! The brands did not respond to requests for comments.
A KFC restaurant in the region administered by Pakistan in cashmere was burnt down in March from last year while demonstrators chanted “La Palestine Libre”.
