Shafaq News-Karbala
Nearly twomillion foreign pilgrims have entered Iraq to observe the Arbaeen commemorationso far, according to Lt. Gen. Saad Maan, head of Iraq's Security Media Cell.
Maan said in astatement on Monday that 1,813,188 foreign visitors from 172 nationalities hadentered the country between June 16 and July 26.
This year'sArbaeen falls on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, corresponding to 20 Safar 1448 inthe Hijri calendar, with arrivals expected to build in the days ahead of theobservance.
In 2025,21,103,524 people had arrived in the city for pilgrimage.
Arbaeen marksthe end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein ibn Ali, the third ShiaImam and a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who was killed at the Battle ofKarbala in 680 AD. The occasion draws millions from across Iraq and abroad tothe shrine city of Karbala in central Iraq, many of them traveling on foot, inone of the world's largest annual religious gatherings.
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