“The number of arrivals to Iraq through the ports so far has exceeded 2,750,000, with a continuous increase,” Interior Minister Abdul-Amir al-Shammari said during a joint presser with Defense Minister Thabet al-Abbasi, adding that the bulk of visitors are in Baghdad, Najaf, and Babil provinces.
The Shiite Muslim Arbaeen pilgrimage marks the end of a 40-day mourning period for the grandson of Prophet Mohammed, Imam Hussein, who died in a battle fought in Karbala in 680 AD.
Millions of religious tourists from Lebanon, Turkey, Kuwait, and especially Iraq’s Shiite-majority neighbor Iran journey to Iraq for a symbolic 80-kilometer walk from Najaf to Karbala - both Shiite holy cities.
Shammari called on pilgrims to avoid using personal vehicles and to instead rely on public transportation in Karbala as much as possible to prevent overcrowding.
The Arbaeen walk begins in Ras al-Bishah, near Iraq’s southern borders with Iran and Kuwait, near the Gulf. Pilgrims customarily dress in black, march through the streets, and often self-flagellate with chains and wood. It ends at the shrine of Imam Hussein in Karbala.
The mourning of the Imam’s death is one of the most important rituals in Shiite Islam.
