Iraqi Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari said in a joint press conference with security officials in Dhi Qar province on Sunday, that "Arbaeen pilgrimage plan will begin on August 19 and it is expected that nearly 5 million pilgrims enter Karbala for the Arbaeen pilgrimage.”
“ A special plan to ensure the security of Arbaeen pilgrims is to be adopted in the provinces of Basra, Wasit, Maysan, Dhi Qar and Al Muthanna, and the details of the arrangements have been reviewed with the security authorities and local officials. These five provinces are the point of departure towards Karbala, and Safwan, Shalamcheh, Al-Sheib and Zarbatieh international border crossings are the entry points for foreign pilgrims from Arab countries and Iran.”
Iraqi foreign minister said that 3 to 5 million pilgrims are predicted to enter Karbala, and service and security plans are to be launched for the ceremony. The security plan will start from August 19 through to September 6.
Alla al-Qaisi, the head of Iraq's Passport Administration, said that arrangements are still underway to present the best services to the pilgrims, adding: “The Border Crossings Organization has mobilized its forces to the crossings dedicated to the Arbaeen pilgrims, including Safwan, Shalamcheh, Zarbatieh, Al-Sheib, Mandali, Mandhariyah, and Al-Qaem, as well as Baghdad, Najaf, and Basra airports. Al-Qaisi added that there is cooperation between the Border Crossings Authority and local officials to improve the infrastructure and facilities existing in all crossings dedicated to Arbaeen.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani also emphasized on successful security and service arrangements to ensure security of the world's largest religious congregation in the city of Karbala.
Reports say that the Iraqi government this year has adopted a special initiative that will see it providing free Internet connection to the pilgrims. The proposal for high-speed Internet along the march routes was made last week by the country's Ministry of Communications.
Also, Iraqi government is said to provide sim cards with free Internet and international calls valid for a week, a plan aimed at solving the problem of communication that prevailed for years.
Iraqi border crossings ready to receive Iranian pilgrims
Since hundreds of thousands of Iranians every year join the Arbaeen congregation, the Iraqi officials have taken further steps for their better movement in the border crossings.
Ibrahim Sharhan Farhan, the director of Shalamcheh border crossing, said that necessary arrangements have been made for easier entry of Iranian pilgrims from Shalamcheh.
“Concerning the transportation to the holy sites and Basra, very good arrangements have been made for the pilgrims to be transferred with the shortest time given the heat wave. We also arranged toilets and showers and mowkebs ( roadside service stations) to serve the pilgrims,” he was quoted as saying.
In addition to Arab regions, Kurdistan region of Iraqi is also preparing to host about half a million Iranians that enter Iraq from Haj Emran border crossing. According to Iraq's 964+ news outlet, the pilgrims entering Kurdistan will be transferred to Erbil and from there to Baghdad by bus.
Haj Emran border crossing authorities say that they have increased the computers, accommodation and seats of this crossing and have created a big parking space for buses and have completed all the preparations for accepting the pilgrims. The Kurdish authorities have predicted that about half a million Arbaeen pilgrims from West Azarbaijan, East Azarbaijan, Ardabil and Zanjan provinces will enter Iraq through this border crossing.
Iran's Interior Minister in a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart in Khosravi border crossing in northwestern Iran on July 31 discussed smooth movement and security of Iranian pilgrims.
Public Mobilization Forces (PMF) to ensure security
With millions heading to Karbala for the Arbaeen, security is an obsession of Baghdad officials. They have made tight security arrangements and as before, Public Mobilization Forces (PMF) was tasked with security.
The PMF, an organization founded in 2014 in opposition to ISIS terrorist organization following a fatwa by grand Iraqi Shiite cleric Ayatollah Sayed Ali al-Sistani, announced that its forces launched an operation to cleanse the vicinity of Diyala River to prepare the region for the pilgrims.
The operation is carried out with the presence of military engineering forces and bomb detection and disposal units. The PMF held that this operation is aimed at ensuring the safety of the pilgrims and clearing their path from any danger.
Ali Al-Hamdani, commander of the Central Euphrates operations of the PMF, had earlier described the security operations to provide protection to Ashura mournings as a success, adding that the tenth of Muharram ceremony was held without any incident. The PMF forces recently reported seizing 200 rockets belonging to ISIS in Al Anbar province.
The security forces have also announced an increase in the number of entrance gates to Karbala. Security check facilities and devices are supposed to be installed at the entrance of the city of Karbala to ensure the security.
Authorities of Imam Hussein and Hazerat Abbas holy shrines are expected to set up ‘security mowkebs’ run by PMF in the routes leading to Karbala 10 days to the Arbaeen ceremony for quick scrambling in case of an emergency.
Last year, 20,000 forces were mobilized to ensure Arbaeen security. This number is increased this year, according to reports.
Fahem Kareem al-Kariti, the media secretary of the PMF’s Karbala Operations Command, said that the command launched a preemptive operation to secure pilgrims.
The inspection of regions has already begun and forces were deployed. The Western desert of Karbala was inspected and protection of the power grids was ensured,” he said.
Al-Kariti added that committees from Karbala, holy shrines, and Karbala Operations Command have taken written commitments from Iraqi as well as foreign mowkebs from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain for security safeguards. He went on that all ministries and provincial councils will assist to Arbaeen plan, and medical units and explosives detection forces from the defense ministry and interior ministry will contribute to these arrangements.
The decades-old Arbaeen marches have been held even more
magnificently in recent years and the number of pilgrims joining them
has been on the rise every year. This is while the US and its regional
minions struggle to inflame the riots and unrest in Iraq to sideline
Arbaeen as the world's biggest congregation. Still, the larger these
insidious actions are, the stronger the Shiites’ resolve is to join the
Arbaeen trek and to block success of Washington’s plots.
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