MUNZIRIYA, Oct 15: Over 100 people from Afghanistan and Pakistan recently arrested in Iraq were pilgrims who had been abandoned at the border by their Iranian tour guides, a National Guard officer said on Friday.

"We have 49 men, 26 women and 37 children who were seeking refuge in some Iraqi villages after they were left stranded on the border," said Mahmud Abdelaziz, the commander for the National Guard in Munziriya, a town northeast of Baghdad.

The pilgrims had paid their guide 50,000 dinars ($35) to take them to Karbala. Instead of visiting holy sites, the group was arrested by Iraq's border guards during searches of the villages between Oct 11 and Oct 14, said Capt Fayssal Abdelkarim, who helps guard the Diyala border.

The same officer had announced that 135 Afghans and Pakistanis had been captured in the operation, which also resulted in the discovery of numerous weapons, including Kalashnikovs and rocket launchers, and ammunition.

Capt Abdelaziz, however, explained that the arms belonged to the villagers and not the pilgrims who were now lodging in a mosque in Munziriya after initially being detained at the border guard's base. Iraqi authorities frequently announce the arrest of people from Afghanistan who cross illegally into the country to make pilgrimages to Najaf and Karbala. -AFP