Over the past 48 hours, radical Islamist militants in Baghdad have waged a campaign of terror targeting Kentucky Fried Chicken chains in retaliation for the US alliance with the Jewish state.

The first attack came early Monday when two masked men on a motorcycle hurled an explosive device at a KFC on Palestine Street in east Baghdad. Twenty-four hours later, the attacks intensified as a masked gang stormed another KFC restaurant, smashing windows and wrecking the interior before escaping.

“Initial investigations showed that the restaurants were targeted over the perceived support of US-based brands for Israel amid the war in the Gaza Strip,” an Iraqi police spokesperson said on Tuesday as cited by Reuters.

Iraqi forces responded by apprehending and disciplining the miltary leadership accused of failing to prevent either attack. While no injuries were reported, the carnage marked a troubling escalation as grassroots anger over Israel’s bombardment of Gaza metastasizes into an uncontrolled backlash against Western interests.

By transforming KFC into a proxy target for their genocidal campaign against Israel, these terrorists are validating the antisemitism fueling their crusade. When blinded by fundamentalist psychopathy, even the most innocuous emblems of America are enemies to be burned to the ground in service of their fanatical jihad.