Three Iraqi soldiers were killed on Thursday when a suspected Islamic State militant detonated an explosive vest, state media reported, as security forces remain on high alert for sectarian attacks.
Soldiers were conducting a raid on a suspected Islamic State cell in the Tarmiya district north of the capital after receiving information that the militants planned to attack Shiite Muslims making the annual pilgrimage to the shrine and burial site. of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim in the north. Baghdad, the Iraqi state news agency reported.
In addition to the suicide bomber, two other members of the cell were killed in clashes with the army, he said. The army was searching the surroundings for other possible militants.
Meanwhile, amid freezing temperatures and tight security, thousands of black-clad pilgrims from across Iraq marched in the annual procession Thursday to commemorate the death of a Shiite saint.
Pilgrims traditionally travel on foot to the shrine and burial place of imam Moussa al-Kadhim, the seventh of 12 Shiite imams who died in a Baghdad prison in the 8th century. The procession leads to the site in the Kadimiyah neighborhood of northern Baghdad. The participants dress in black and some self-flagellate to publicly express their mourning.
IRANIAN-SUPPORTED MILITIA LAUNCHES ROCKETS AT TURKISH BASE IN NORTHERN IRAQ
Shiite worshipers gather at the gold-domed shrine of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim, who died in the late 8th century, during the annual commemoration of the saint’s death, in Baghdad, Iraq, on February 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
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Tents were set up along the kilometers of trail that the pilgrims walked on Thursday, distributing food and water for free. Thousands of Iraqi security forces were deployed throughout the city to ensure the safety of the pilgrims, while some roads and bridges were closed to vehicles to allow only pedestrian traffic.
Sadiq Jaffar, 27, of Baghdad, told The Associated Press that he was participating in the pilgrimage “because it’s important to my identity, despite all the problems the country is facing, like rising food prices and rampant corruption.” .”
This year’s pilgrimage takes place just before the 20th anniversary next month of the US invasion of Iraq that led to the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein. Hussein had prohibited such pilgrimages.
During the years of civil war that followed, insurgents repeatedly attacked Shiite pilgrims during their religious ceremonies.
Iraq emerged from a year-long political stalemate with the formation of a government in October, but hopes of stabilization of the political and economic situation were short-lived.
Steps taken by the United States in recent months to crack down on money laundering and the funneling of dollars to Iran and Syria from Iraq have severely restricted Iraq’s access to hard currency, leading to currency devaluation and price inflation.
