A funeral procession winds its way through Karbala
Ashura is a commemoration of a massacre when Shi'a Muslims remember
the slaying of the grandson of the Prophet, Husayn some 1324 years
ago.
But today, Iraq's Shi'a Muslims grieved not just for Husayn but for those killed in Tuesday's brutal terrorist attacks in Karbala and Baghdad.
The funeral processions started early in Karbala, the simple wooden coffins adorned with palm leaves and draped in the flags associated with Ashura
commemorations - green for Islam and black for mourning - wound their way through the holy city in the early morning.
Among the dead where at least four clerics, holy men killed on one of the holiest days in the Shi'a calendar in one of their holiest cities.
Many Shi'a believe that for this reason the dead will go straight to Paradise, to take their place next to the Imam Husayn.
Later tens of thousands of Shi'a Muslims marched through the streets of Karbala to pay their last respects to the victims, believed to number more
than 143.
Chanting Husayn's name and shouting in Arabic: "God is Greatest. America is the enemy of God" they carried coffins through the streets, some laden
with flowers, others draped in rugs with verses from the Quran, as black-clad musicians clashed cymbals, banged drums and blew horns.
A mass funeral service, led by Karbala's senior clerics, was held at the Shrine of Husayn. Ayatollah Hadi al-Muddaresi urged the faithful not
to seek vengeance and described the attacks as an act of "aggression against all Muslims".
After the sermon, the coffins were carried to the nearby shrine of 'Abbas and from there to the edge of the city where they will be taken to
the holy city of Najaf, a revered Muslim burial ground located south of Karbala.
Female Shi'a Muslim caring for her injured cousin in a Karbala hospital
At Karbala's Al-Husayn hospital authorities were still trying to identify the dead as relatives picked up their slain loved ones from.
Some wept as they scanned handwritten lists of names posted on the hospital walls and Iranian pilgrims, speaking in Farsi, struggled to communicate
with the Iraqi hospital officials.
More than 22 Iranians are believed to have been killed in the Karbala blasts.
But there was also joy among some mourners, who said their relatives and friends who died in the blasts were lucky, having died on the same day
as al-Husayn.
Meanwhile echoing across the city the muaddhin - the man who makes the call to prayer - could be heard crying, "They sacrificed their souls for
al-Husayn".
