Attacks on businesses linked to US brands rattle Baghdad as anger over the war in Gaza surges
A flurry of recent attacks in Iraq, apparently orchestrated by supporters of Iran-backed, anti-American militias, reflect surging anger against the United States, Israel’s top ally, over the war in Gaza
BAGHDAD — A dozen masked men jump out of two SUVs and a white pickup and storm a KFC in Baghdad, smashing everything in sight before fleeing the scene. A few days earlier, similar violence played out at Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken and Chili House — all American brands popular in the Iraqi capital.
Though no one was seriously hurt, the recent attacks — apparently orchestrated by supporters of Iran-backed, anti-American militias in Iraq — reflect surging anger against the United States, Israel’s top ally, over the war in Gaza.
Iraqi governments have for years walked a delicate line between Washington and Tehran, but the eight-month war in Gaza has critically upped the stakes.
The conflict erupted after the militant Hamas group stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and taking 250 hostage. Israel's subsequent offensives in Gaza have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians in the territory, according to the Health Ministry there.
Days after the war broke out, a coalition of Iran-backed militias dubbed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq launched dozens of attacks on bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and eastern Syria.
Those attacks stopped in February — but only after a series of retaliatory U.S. strikes following a drone hit on a base in Jordan that killed three American soldiers.
The attacks on U.S.-linked businesses and brands in Iraq in late May and earlier this week represent a change in tactics intended to maximize anti-U.S. sentiment over Washington’s support for Israel.
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