By Xinhua
Baghdad : The Iraqi government announced a vehicle ban in Baghdad and southern provinces on the eve of a major Shiite religious festival of Ashura, south of the capital, state media reported on Wednesday.
“There would be a curfew for vehicles in Baghdad, Diyala Province and all of the country’s southern provinces, starting from 8 p.m. (1700 GMT) Thursday to 6 p.m. (1500 GMT) Saturday,” the Iraqi state-run television, quoted Maj. Gen. Abdul Kareem Khalaf, spokesman of the Interior Ministry as saying.
The government’s move, among other security measures, came to provide better security atmosphere for dozens of thousands of pilgrims expected to get together in Karbala, 110 km south of Baghdad, and the Kadhimiya neighborhood in northern the capital, the channel said.
Ashura, the Shiite religious festival, had witnessed frequent attacks by militants in the last few years.
The Ashura occasion, on Friday, marks the death of Imam al-Hussein, Prophet Muhammad’s grandson and the third holiest Imam of the 12 Imams most revered by Shiite Muslims, who was killed in a battle named Taf in Karbala in the seventh century.