KARBALA: Estimated 20 million pilgrims were on their way to Karbala, Iraq to participate in the world’s largest annual gathering of people, the religious pilgrimage of Arbaeen.
“The number of Arab and foreign pilgrims has reached 4.6 million, of 60 different nationalities,” he told reporters.
“And until today, we had 14.8 million Iraqis,” he said.
Millions of faithful have been walking to Karbala from all over Iraq, and large numbers from across the Iranian border, for days.
The Iraqi authorities had reported already last week that at least one million Iranians, the largest number on record, had come to Iraq for Arbaeen this year.
The crowds are so huge it is difficult to verify the figures provided by the authorities, but the governor of Karbala said it was the largest attendance ever.
“This is the biggest. It’s exceptional because the pilgrims consider this as an act of defiance in the face of the terrorist gangs of Daesh,” Aqil al-Turaihi said.
The pilgrims must reach Karbala, south of Baghdad, by 13th December, a date which marks the end of 40 days’ mourning following Ashura, the ritual which marks the martyrdom of Prophet Mohammad’s beloved grandson Imam Hussein.
Tens of thousands walk from Najaf, a distance of 55 miles, and port city of Basra, 425-miles south on foot, which takes two weeks, passing through hostile territory, and deserts which are baking during the day and freezing at night. The pilgrimage was banned under Saddam Hussein and only reintroduced in 2003.
Extremists such as Isis (known in the local language as Daesh) regard pilgrims as apostates and attack them with bombs and rockets. The Arbaeen pilgrimage itself has often been targeted by Isis and other fanatics. Last year militants attacked the pilgrimage with suicide bombers and rockets, leaving dozens dead.
The pilgrimage comes only weeks after a major victory against the jihadists in the Jurf al-Sakhr area between Karbala and Baghdad.
The continued presence there of IS fighters would have exposed the millions of southbound pilgrims walking through an area which has been dubbed the “triangle of death”.
Most of the men now defending Jurf al-Sakhr, a sprawling area of farmland and palm groves nestled along the Euphrates, are from Shia fighters who fought alongside the army and with Iranian assistance, to recapture the strategic site.
“The victories obtained here have had a great impact on the march” of the pilgrims, Communications Minister Hassan al-Rashed said Wednesday when he visited Jurf al-Sakhr.
Rashed is also a commander in the Badr organisation, which also holds the interior ministry in Iraq’s new government and whose military wing is one of the largest Shia militias in the country.
“Today all the areas surrounding Karbala are safe, thanks to the efforts they (Badr fighters) made, the blood they spilled and the sacrifices they made, in coordination with the security forces,” he said.
Pilgrims have been targeted in the past, but few attacks have been reported against those heading to Karbala this year so far.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
