ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The recent attacks on American and British companies in Baghdad are a “desperate” attempt to destabilize Iraq and harm its reputation, Iraq’s Security Media Cell said on Thursday, after two companies were targeted by explosives overnight.
A branch of the American company Caterpillar in Baghdad’s Jadriya neighborhood and the British Cambridge Institute in Palestine Street were targeted with sound grenades at approximately 1:30 am on Thursday, without causing any casualties or material damage.
“Such actions are a desperate attempt to harm Iraq’s reputation, the direction of reconstruction and providing services to citizens, as well as the status and sacrifices of our security forces,” Iraq’s Security Media Cell said in a statement.
The cell stressed that security forces and intelligence agencies “will pursue and reach all those who tamper with security and societal peace and violate the law and public and private property.”
The attacks come days after the branch of popular American fast food restaurant KFC in Palestine Street was targeted by two gunmen who threw an explosive device at the front door.
The attack resulted in material damage to the restaurant, and Iraqi security forces the following day announced the arrest of the perpetrators.
Following the attack, a group of masked men attacked another KFC branch in Baghdad’s Karrada neighborhood.
A number of Western brands and companies in the Arab world, including KFC and Caterpillar, have been subject to boycott calls over their alleged links to Israel, with the boycotts particularly slashing the earnings of many popular chains including McDonald’s and Starbucks.
The boycotts are in response to Israel’s deadly military campaign against the Gaza Strip which has killed over over 36,000, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Israel’s campaign was in retaliation to a large-scale incursion into southern Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants based in Gaza, which killed over 1,170.
Iraq is a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause and has on several occasions condemned the lack of global support for justice for Palestinians.
