1500 Hussayni processions and bodies of condolence and service have participated in Ashura rituals

The head of the Department of Hussayni processions and bodies in Iraq and the Muslim world of the two holy shrines of Imam Al-Hussayn and Al-Abbas (peace be upon both of them); Haj Riyadh Ni'mah Al-Salman has stated that the number of the Hussayni processions and bodies of condolence and service during the Ziyarat of Ashura that are registered officially in the department this year is 1500 processions most of them are from Karbala, including Arab and foreign processions that participated in the Ashura condolence season this year 1439 AH.

He added: "These processions were distributed between condolences processions of (Lamentation and zinjeel) that carry out condolence activities along the days of Ashura and that provide also some services, and service processions that provide services to the visitors by offering them foods, drinks, accommodation and other services, all in the province of Karbala, as the first ten days of Muharram are allocated to the people of Karbala only. There was also participation of processions from Bahrain, Lebanon, Kuwait, Iran, India and Pakistan."

He also indicated: "This number is only the number of the total processions operating within the administrative border of the province of Karbala and registered in our department, and there are a large number of processions that are not registered and that provide the services to the visitors on the surroundings of the province or on the roads leading to it, as well as tens of houses that open their doors to the visitors heading to the Ziyarat of Imam al-Hussayn and his brother Aba al-Fadl al-Abbas (peace be upon both of them."

It is to note that the processions Department has previously registered these processions in official registers, issuing for them special IDs. Also many preparatory meetings were held preceding the season of the Ziyarat Ashura with the sponsors of these processions, in order to discuss how to achieve the best results commensurate with the sanctity of the place and the occasion, working together to overcome all obstacles.