Bomb defused in KFC in Pakistan

Explosives experts defused a homemade time bomb just before it was set to go off today inside a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in the southern Pakistani city of Hyderabad, police said.

The 1.5lb device was hidden behind a toilet in the US fast food franchise, according to Hyderabad police chief A D Khawaja.

The bomb was defused shortly before the restaurant’s closing time and there were only a few customers in the single-story building.

A cleaner heard a ticking sound and saw an explosive attached to a washing machine clock. The restaurant’s manager then called the bomb disposal squad.

“The bomb was defused minutes before it would have exploded,” Khawaja said.

He said an investigation was under way but no arrests had been made.

There have been a spate of attacks against Westerners and foreign interests in Pakistan since US-led coalition forces invaded neighbouring Afghanistan over a year ago. Many Pakistanis expressed sympathy for the Taliban, who were overthrown by the coalition.

The attacks have usually been blamed on anti-American Islamic militants.

Two bomb explosions in Hyderabad in recent months have killed a total of four people and injured 33. Nearly all the victims were Pakistanis. Nobody has claimed responsibility for those blasts, which both occurred on passenger buses.