Huge crowds gather in Karbala, Iraq ahead of the Arbaeen pilgrimage
Hundreds of thousands of people were arriving in Karbala, Iraq ahead of Arbaeen, the Shiite pilgrimage regarded as one of the largest annual public gatherings in the world. Arbaeen commemorates the end of the 40-day mourning period after the killing of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, in a climactic battle in A.D. 680 that cemented the rift with Sunnis.
