Shi'ite Muslims conclude Ashura pilgrimage in Iraq

At mosques and shrines across Iraq, millions of Shi'ites, Iraqis and foreigners, commemorated the slaying of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Hussein at the battle of Kerbala in 680 AD, an event that defines Shi'ism and its rift with Sunni Islam.

Loudspeakers blared Ashura chants across Baghdad and the city of Kerbala, 80 km (50 miles) south of the capital, where hundreds of thousands of pilgrims dressed in black gathered outside the golden-domed Imam Hussein shrine.

Many had walked miles to get there in processions that have been frequent target for Sunni Islamist insurgents in the past.

Some 20,000 members of Iraq's security forces formed cordons around Kerbala, vehicles were banned and 1,000 snipers were perched on the roofs of buildings. Troops stood watch with bomb-sniffing dogs and the wands used to detect explosives.

Iraq's Shi'ite-led government has tightened security for the event in recent years, but a peaceful Ashura was especially important this year ahead of a March 7 parliamentary election.