Pilgrims in Karbala hold Palestinian flags amid the war in Gaza as they commemorate the annual mourning of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein.
More than 21 million Shiite Muslims took part in this year's Arbaeen pilgrimage in Iraq, marking the 40th day of mourning for the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and founding figure of Shiite Islam.
The event reached its climax on Sunday, when attendees showed their support for Gaza.
Arbaeen, meaning 40 in Arabic, is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world and an important event for Shiite Muslims, who are in the majority in Iraq and Iran.
Karbala, where Hussein and his brother Abbas are buried in two huge mausoleums facing each other, is the centre of the Shiite world during this period.
Pilgrims freely express their suffering, tears and lamentations in memory of Hussein, who was killed in 680 during a battle in Karbala with the Umayyad Caliph Yazid.
This year, events included prominent displays of Palestinian flags by pilgrims amid the war in Gaza.
“The total number of Arbaeen pilgrims… has reached 21,480,525,” said the institution that administers Abbas’s mausoleum and is responsible for the count.
Among them were some 3.5 million Iranian pilgrims, according to official figures released in Tehran.
Mohammed al-Tamimi, a 32-year-old pilgrim, told AFP news agency that the Palestinian flags waved among the pilgrims were “in support of our brothers in Palestine and in response to the Zionists, saying that Muslims unite against Zionist actions and against the crimes taking place in Gaza.”
Israel has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October. An estimated 1,139 people were killed during a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7.
Arbaeen celebrations, which always take place amid tight security, attracted some 22 million pilgrims last year, according to official figures. Iran was the country that received the most foreign visitors, with 4 million.
