KARBALA, Jan 7: More than two million devotees from across the Middle East swarmed the city of Karbala in central Iraq on Wednesday to observe Ashura amid tight security.

Men and women, the elderly and children mourned the martyrdom 13 centuries ago of Hazrat Imam Hussein (RA). The pilgrims pounded on their chests and whipped their backs with chains.

The focus of the pilgrims in the desert city of Karbala, 100km south of Baghdad, were two gold-domed holy shrines — one to Hazrat Imam Hussein (RA) and the other to Hazrat Abbas (RA).

More than two million pilgrims from Iraq, Iran, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan and Tanzania have streamed into Karbala, said Sheikh Nameh al-Salman, a city official.

Observance of Ashura has drawn millions since the fall of Saddam Hussein in the aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion.

But the swarming crowds pose a serious security challenge and in the past the ceremonies have been easy targets for attacks, prompting officials this year to mobilise 30,000 extra police.

Coordinated suicide bombings in Baghdad and Karbala during the first post-Saddam Ashura in 2004 killed more than 160 people and marked the beginning of a bloody sectarian conflict that swept the country until early 2008.

Security was also tight in Baghdad, where a suicide bomber blew up in a crowd of pilgrims queueing at security gates leading to an important shrine on Sunday, killing at least 35 people and wounding dozens.

The threat of violence did not however deter thousands of pilgrims at the Kadhamiyah shrine in Baghdad. Officials had reported the bomber was a woman but said on Tuesday further investigation had revealed the bomber was a man.

Nevertheless, officials in Baghdad had taken the unusual step of banning women from the Kadhamiyah shrine until the end of Ashura.—AFP