PARIS, Sept 19: Fresh protests erupted in the Muslim world on Wednesday over an anti-Islam film as a French magazine added fuel to the fire with the publication of blasphemous sketches of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

France braced for a backlash over the sketches, stepping up security at its embassies and banning demonstrations on its own soil as senior officials and Muslim leaders appealed for calm.

More than 30 people have been killed in attacks or violent protests linked to the objectionable US-made film ‘Innocence of Muslims’, including 12 people who died in an attack by a woman suicide bomber in Afghanistan on Tuesday.

In Pakistani cities on Wednesday, thousands of people took to the streets, chanting anti-US slogans and burning the American flag.

In neighbouring Afghanistan, about 1,000 protesters took to the streets in the east of the country, blocking a key road to Kabul and chanting “Death to America” and “Death to the enemies of Islam”.

Indonesia saw hundreds of protesters tear up the American flag and throw eggs at the US embassy in the capital Jakarta.

In Lebanon, gunmen opened fire on a KFC fast-food restaurant, just days after another outlet of the US chain was torched and a demonstrator killed in a protest over the film. No one was hurt in Wednesday’s attack. Muslim men and women in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka also staged their first demonstration on Wednesday, with several hundred gathering in the capital Colombo near the US embassy to denounce the film.

The ‘Innocence of Muslims’, a crudely made film produced by extremist Christians in the United States, has triggered protests in at least 20 countries since excerpts were posted on the Internet.

In reaction to the uproar, the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published sketches mocking the film and depicting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The left-wing publication’s offices were firebombed last year after it published an edition that it called Sharia Hebdo.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he feared a backlash over the sketches and said embassies and other French institutions in around 20 countries would be closed on Friday for fear of being targeted in protests after weekly prayers.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said anyone offended by the sketches could take the matter to the courts but made it clear there would be no action against the weekly.

“We are in a country where freedom of expression is guaranteed, including the freedom to caricature,” he said.

Leaders of the Muslim community in France — the largest in western Europe — said an appeal for calm would be read out in mosques across the country on Friday but also condemned the magazine for publishing “insulting” images.

Al-Azhar condemned the publication, while the Vatican’s official daily Osservatore Romano said the satirical images could throw “fuel on the fire”.

Washington has also moved to boost security in the wake of the protests, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying the US was taking “aggressive steps” to protect diplomatic missions worldwide.

YouTube said on Wednesday it had extended its restrictions on the video to Saudi Arabia, saying it was among countries where the film was considered illegal.

YouTube parent Google said in a statement that the ‘Innocence of Muslims’ would be restricted “in countries where it is considered illegal by local authorities; that is, to date, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia”.

The firm last week restricted access to the film in Egypt and Libya after unrest in those countries, and has been adding countries to the list.—AFP