THE GUARDIAN: Around two million pilgrims today marched through the Iraqi city of Karbala in blood-soaked processions - beating their heads and chests in unison and whipping themselves with chains - to mark Ashura, one of the holiest events in the Shia Muslim calendar.
The processions were marred by violence with a deadly bombing in northern Iraq and clashes in the south involving members of a radical cult.
Shias across Iraq observed the Ashura holiday by marching, singing and beating their chests to honour the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, in 680 AD. Security was stepped up in Karbala with 30,000 policemen and soldiers deployed in the city, including reinforcements from Baghdad.
But street battles between a messianic cult, the Soldiers of Heaven, and Iraqi troops raged for a second day in two predominantly Shia southern cities. Iraqi authorities said at least 36 people were reported killed in Basra and at least 32 in Nasiriyah, including Iraqi security forces, civilians and gunmen. Seven Iraqis were killed in a rocket attack after observing Ashura in Tal Afar, 260 miles north-west of Baghdad, police Brigadier General Najim Abdullah said. Shia holy day in Iraq marred by violence >>> By David Smith and agencies
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