Shia Muslims commemorate martyrdom of Imam Al-Hussein

By Ali Jawad

BAGHDAD (AA) - Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shia Muslims commemorated the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Al-Hussein amid tight security procedures Wednesday.

In the central city of Karbala, crowds of Shia pilgrims from other parts of Iraq and neighboring countries gathered to pray at the shrine of Imam Al-Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad who was killed at the Battle of Karbala in 680, or 61 in the Islamic calendar.

Wednesday is the 10th day of Muharram -- the first month in the Islamic calendar -- when Shia Muslims mark Hussein’s death on the Day of Ashura.

“The sermons of commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Al-Hussein ended this afternoon without recording any security breaches within the vicinity of the city of Karbala, where there are hundreds of thousands of visitors,” Lt. Col. Safaa Kamel from the army’s Middle Euphrates Operations Command said in a statement.

The military, police and Shia militias were mobilized to provide security and monitor the crowds.

Bomb attacks by Daesh have killed hundreds at Shia religious events in Iraq in recent years.

Earlier Wednesday, Maj. Gen. Sami al-Sudani, the Interior Ministry’s director of border crossings, said 200,000 visitors had entered the country to commemorate the anniversary.

In Baghdad and other Shia-majority regions, people held funerals from the start of Muharram to mark the imam’s death.