Iraq: Ashoura in Karbala draws thousands of Shiite pilgrims for rituals

Iraq welcomed thousands of Shiite Muslim pilgrims to the holy city of Karbala on 25 June as Ashoura commemorations reached their peak. Worshippers gathered around the shrines of Imam Hussein and his brother Abbas, taking part in prayers, mourning processions and traditional rituals marking the anniversary of Imam Hussein’s death at the Battle of Karbala in AD 680. Security was reinforced across the city as visitors from Iraq and neighbouring countries joined one of the largest annual religious gatherings in the Middle East. Ashoura is observed on the 10th day of Muharram and remains the holiest occasion in the Shiite calendar. Throughout Karbala, black banners decorated the streets while volunteers distributed food and water to pilgrims. Religious processions crossed the city carrying symbolic flags and banners, with participants performing chest-beating, elegies and other longstanding mourning traditions. The annual event commemorates Imam Hussein’s refusal to submit to the Umayyad caliphate, a defining moment in Shiite Islam that continues to symbolise sacrifice, faith and resistance to oppression.