Hundreds of thousands of Iraq’s Shiite Muslims on Sunday marked the annual religious celebration of Ashura amid concerns of a further spread of the coronavirus.
SEE ALSO: ISWAP Distributed Manifesto Leaflets to Civilians in Monguno Attack
Ashura, which falls on the 10th of the Islamic lunar month of Muharram, marks the killing of the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson, Hussein, at the Battle of Karbala in Iraq in 680 AD.
On Sunday, Shiites, wearing protective face masks, packed the holy city of Karbala in southern Iraq.
They thronged the shrine of Hussein and nearby streets, performing the morning ritual of hitting their heads.
Similar rituals including mourning councils took place in Iraq’s other Shiite-majority areas amid health and security precautions, witnesses said.
Health authorities have warned that commemorating the occasion amid the virus outbreak poses a public health threat.
Iraq has so far reported a total of over 231,000 coronavirus cases and 6,959 related deaths.
Shiites from other countries normally flock to Iraq to attend the celebrations, but were stopped this year by travel restrictions prompted by the pandemic.
Ashura for Muslims also marks the day Moses and the Israelites were saved from the Egyptians.
The festival was banned in Iraq for years under dictator Saddam Hussein, who was ousted in 2003.