Shia Muslims mark Hussein's martyrdom in Iraq’s Karbala

By Ali Jawad

BAGHDAD

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shia Muslims on Thursday marked the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Al-Hussein in Iraq’s southern city of Karbala.

Throngs of Shia pilgrims from all over Iraq converged on the city to pray at the Shrine of Imam Al-Hussein, a grandson of Prophet Muhammad.

Thursday is the 10th day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, when Shia Muslims commemorate Al-Hussein’s death on the Day of Ashura.

In a statement, Lieutenant-Colonel Safaa Kamel of the Iraqi Army’s Middle Euphrates Operations Command, said that, as of midday, no security threats had been reported.

“Security forces have imposed restrictive measures in and around the city,” he said.

Army, police and units from the Hashd al-Shaabi (a predominantly Shia military force) have been mobilized to provide security and monitor the crowds, Kamel added.

The authorities have also imposed a ban on vehicles within a five-kilometer radius of Al-Hussein's shrine.

Al-Hussein, along with 72 loyal companions, was killed at the infamous Battle of Karbala in the year 680 AD (year 61 on the Islamic calendar) by the forces of Umayyad Caliph Yazid I.

The incident prompted Islam’s “great schism”, which saw the Muslim world split between Sunni and Shia camps.