KARBALA (AFP) – Millions of Shiites across Iraq on Sunday joined ceremonies marking the climax of solemn Ashura rituals.

Around three million people thronged the streets of the shrine city of Karbala in central Iraq for the main rituals commemorating the slaying of the revered Imam Hussein by the armies of a totalitarian ruler Yazid in 680, according to provincial deputy governor Nasaeef Jassim.
“Over the past 10 days, we have received around six million visitors who have come from all over Iraq, some coming by foot,” Jassim said, adding that at least half of these had stayed for Sunday's climax of the annual event.
He added that among the pilgrims on Sunday were some 105,000 worshippers from foreign countries, mostly from the Persian Gulf but also including Pakistan, Canada and Tanzania.
Karbala police chief General Ali Jassim Mohammed had earlier in the week announced the deployment of around 25,000 policemen and soldiers to secure the commemoration ceremonies.
Violence elsewhere in the country, however, took the gloss off the largely peaceful Karbala pilgrimage.
Police said that early on Sunday a bomb ripped through a procession marking Ashura in the northern town of Tuz Khurmatu, near oil-rich Kirkuk, killing five people and wounding 27, including five women and a policeman.
The Tuz Khurmatu attack came a day after three Shiites were killed when bombs struck separate Ashura processions in Baghdad.
Since Tuesday, 32 people have been killed and more than 160 wounded in violence targeting Ashura, including attacks on worshippers in Karbala and Baghdad earlier in the week.
Karbala, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad, was peaceful on Sunday.
“Despite a serious threat from armed groups to target visitors, the security plan has worked,” said National Security Minister Shirwan al-Waili, who was visiting Karbala along with Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani.
A peaceful Ashura is crucial for the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has built his reputation on bringing security to Iraq, ahead of nationwide parliamentary elections on March 7.
Ceremonies began with thousands of devotees drenched in blood after ritually slicing their scalps and were to end with a re-enactment of the battle for Karbala in 680 in which Imam Hussein was killed.
Tradition holds that the revered imam was decapitated and his body mutilated.
To show their guilt and remorse for not defending Hussein, Shiites flay themselves with chains attached to sticks during processions.
Sad songs were being played on loudspeakers throughout the city and mostly black flags were on display, along with pictures of Imam Hussein and Hazrat Abbas, both of whom are buried in the city.
Masses of black-clad pilgrims took part in a ritual five-kilometer (three-mile) run, known as the “Twairij”, around mid-day to Imam Hussein's shrine while hitting their heads with their hands and screaming “Labeikeh Hussein” (We are your followers, Hussein).
They were to set fire to tents set up in the city to re-enact the scene of the final battle between Imam Hussein and Yazid's armies.
During Ashura in March 2004, near-simultaneous bombings at a Shiite mosque in Baghdad and in Karbala killed more than 170 people.
Shiites make up around 15 percent of Muslims worldwide. They represent the majority populations in Iraq, Iran and Bahrain and form significant communities in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.