Iraq Thwarts Plot Targeting Shia Pilgrims in Karbala

(MENAFN) Iraq announced on Sunday that authorities successfully dismantled a Daesh/ISIS plan targeting Shia pilgrims in the central city of Karbala.

According to a statement released by the Karbala Investigation Court and reported by a news agency, security forces arrested 23 suspects—including one woman—in coordinated raids across southern Iraq, the Middle Euphrates region, and Baghdad.

The suspects admitted to planning assaults intended to undermine the safety and security of pilgrims participating in Arbaeen, a significant religious event that marks the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, who was slain in battle in 680.

Each year, tens of thousands of Shia pilgrims undertake a foot pilgrimage to Karbala for Arbaeen, one of the largest gatherings in the Shia Muslim world.

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