25,000 security elements to protect Ashuraa visitors in Karbala

KARBALA / IraqiNews.com: Around 25,000 security elements will implement the security plan during Ashuraa visit, next month, a media source said on Monday. “The police department in Karbala mapped out a plan, with the participation of 25,000 security elements to be distributed throughout the province during Ashuraa,” Major Alaa al-Ghanemi told IraqiNews.com news agency. Ashuraa is an occasion marking the death of Imam al-Hussein, the prophet Muhammad’s grandson and the third holiest figure for Shiite Muslims, in the battle of Taf in Karbala in the Hegira year 61 (680 in the Gregorian calendar). Thousands of Shiite Muslims from all over Iraq and neighboring countries head to Imam Hussein’s tomb in Karbala as well as to Shiite shrines in other provinces to celebrate the occasion. Karbala lies 108 km southwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. SH (P) 35