Sports fans watch football in a coffee shop in Baghdad Islamist militant groups in Iraq are targeting coffee shops and sports bars after al-Qaeda issued a fatwa (Islamic ruling) against \"worldly amusement ,\" with fears that young Muslims are abandoning \"jihad,\" Arab Today has learnt.
At least 22 people killed after a series of bomb blasts hit coffee shops in Baghdad and surrounding cities last week.
A senior source from Iraq\'s Ministry of National Security has told Arab Today that security authorities found copies of the fatwa during raids on al-Qaeda hideouts last month. The source explained that the fatwa authorised attacks on cafes and sports bars because they are \"worldly amusement\" which \"distracts the youth from jihad for the sake of God.\"
The security source explained that al-Qaeda noticed coffee shops were attracting Iraqi youth and pulling them away from extremist organisations, leading them to authorise attacks on these places.
Majority of the attacks have taken place on coffee shops in Sunni majority areas, such as Azamiyah, northern Baghdad. \"We have evidence to suggest the attacks are premeditated,\" the source claimed, adding that \"initial investigations had proved that groups affiliated with al-Qaeda are behind these operations.
Six clubs and seven cafes in the neighbourhoods of Azamiyah and Zaytouneh, near the Iraqi capital, have come under attack in the last 30 days.