More Than 21 Million Pilgrims Attend 2024 Arbaeen Procession: Shrine
In a Sunday statement, the shrine announced that 21,480,525 pilgrims had participated in the great religious event.
Arbaeen is a religious event observed by Shia Muslims on the fortieth day after the Day of Ashura, commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS), the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the third Shia imam.
It is one of the largest annual pilgrimages in the world, with millions of Shia Muslims walking to Karbala from various cities in Iraq and neighboring countries. This year, the day of Arbaeen fell on August 25.
According to Iranian border officials, some 3.5 million Iranian pilgrims had entered Iraq for the pilgrimage as of Saturday.
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No security issues were reported in this year’s procession, prompting Iraq’s National Security Service to announce the success of its security plans. The service carried out “many intelligence, field and preemptive operations that contributed to the preservation, safety and security of the visitors,” said its spokesperson, Arshad Al-Hakim, on Sunday.
He added that 146 people were arrested on charges of their links with extremist groups and the Baath party, as well as drug dealing, the Iraqi News Agency reported on Sunday.
“The National Security Service detachments are still deployed in all areas of responsibility until the return of the last visitor,” he added.
Some 2.6 million Iranian pilgrims have returned to the country as of Saturday night.
Source: Agencies
