Shiites head to Iraq's Karbala under jihadist threat
11/2/2014 12:37:24 PM
Hundreds of thousands of Shiites will flock to Iraq's Karbala this week under threat from jihadists who consider them heretics and now hold large parts of the country.
Pilgrims making the trip to the shrine city of Karbala for Ashura, which marks the death of Imam Hussein, one of the most revered figures in Shiite Islam, have been targeted in the past by deadly bombings.
But this year, the threat to the pilgrims, who come from Iraq but also other countries including Iran, is even greater after the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group spearheaded a sweeping militant offensive that overran much of Iraq's Sunni Arab heartland.
The pilgrimage is a major test for the new government headed by Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, as well as for Iraq's security forces, who have struggled to push the militants back.
A major attack during the commemorations in Karbala, where Imam Hussein is buried, would increase already-significant tensions between Iraq's Shiite majority and Sunni Arab minority, and could spark revenge attacks.
The 2006 bombing of a revered Shiite shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad, sparked waves of sectarian violence in which tens of thousands died, though an attack on a shrine during the pilgrimage would be unlikely to succeed.
"The level of danger is higher than past years. Before there was terrorism, but it did not reach this level," a police colonel said on condition of anonymity.
An army brigadier general who also declined to be identified by name agreed, saying: "There was danger," but "it is now greater than before. The threat is bigger."
Pilgrims making the trip to the shrine city of Karbala for Ashura, which marks the death of Imam Hussein, one of the most revered figures in Shiite Islam, have been targeted in the past by deadly bombings.
But this year, the threat to the pilgrims, who come from Iraq but also other countries including Iran, is even greater after the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group spearheaded a sweeping militant offensive that overran much of Iraq's Sunni Arab heartland.
The pilgrimage is a major test for the new government headed by Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, as well as for Iraq's security forces, who have struggled to push the militants back.
A major attack during the commemorations in Karbala, where Imam Hussein is buried, would increase already-significant tensions between Iraq's Shiite majority and Sunni Arab minority, and could spark revenge attacks.
The 2006 bombing of a revered Shiite shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad, sparked waves of sectarian violence in which tens of thousands died, though an attack on a shrine during the pilgrimage would be unlikely to succeed.
"The level of danger is higher than past years. Before there was terrorism, but it did not reach this level," a police colonel said on condition of anonymity.
An army brigadier general who also declined to be identified by name agreed, saying: "There was danger," but "it is now greater than before. The threat is bigger."