Karbala provincial governor Amal al-Din al-Har told AFP that about four million pilgrims, including 200,000 from foreign countries, have come to Karbala for the rituals.
In parallel, Staff Lieutenant General Othman al-Ghanimi, commander of Al-Furat al-Awsat operations command which covers the Karbala area, said 30,000 security forces personnel were deployed at the northern, southern and eastern entrances of Karbala to protect the pilgrims.
Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Mohammed al-Hasnawi, the command's spokesman, meanwhile said that its forces are also preparing to protect pilgrims on their way back to their homes.
Al-Har said that there will be 2,400 vehicles from various Iraqi ministries and from Karbala province to help transport pilgrims home.
"There have not been any attacks on pilgrims in Karbala province so far," Hasnawi said.
Moreover, arrangements for free meals and drinks have also been made at different places in the way of procession for mourners.
Ashoura processions were also held in small and large cities of the country.
Meanwhile millions of people, dressed in black, took to the streets and mosques on Sunday, the tenth day of the lunar month of Muharram, to mourn the tragedy on a day known as Ashura.
The annual commemoration is held in different regions of the world and mourning rituals are performed to eulogize the Shias' third Imam.
Ashura marks the day when Imam Hussein, along with 72 of his companions, was martyred in a battle against the second Umayyad caliph in Karbala, Iraq, more than 14 centuries ago.
Imam Hussein is referred as “Lord of Martyrs” by Shia Muslims and is remembered as the symbol of freedom and dignity.
Imam rose up against the tyrant of the time, Yazid, and was martyred after rejecting allegiance to him.
In the battle of Karbala, Imam Hussein and his companions were encircled by an army of 30,000 which decapitated martyrs and ran over bodies with horses.
Yazid’s army then plundered tents of Imam Hussein’s family and burned them. Then, they moved girls and women along heads of the martyrs to Yazid’s court.
Anger at Imam’s martyrdom became a rallying cry that helped oust Umayyads.
Ashura symbolizes the eternal struggle of truth against falsehood and the battle against injustice and cruelty realized by Imam Hussein as he offered supreme sacrifice to uphold the principles against tyranny.
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