50 suspects arrested ahead of Shiite pilgrimage in holy Karbala

“Security agencies have been launching a large-scale security campaign in all areas of Karbala, resulting so far in the capture of 50 persons  suspected of involvement in criminal and terrorist acts in the province, including three suspected Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) members,” Maj. General Ali Jassem al-Ghariri told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

The al-Ziyara al-Shaabaniya, literally the mid-Shaaban visit, is a pilgrimage to revive the memory of the birth of the Messiah-like Imam al-Mahdi, the 12th holiest figure for Shiites Muslims.