Iraq's Popular Mobilization says 24,000 personnel secured Ashura pilgrimage routes

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) said it completed a security, service and cultural plan covering millions of pilgrims during the Ashura commemoration, deploying more than 24,000 personnel along routes leading to the holy city of Karbala. PMF Deputy Chief of Staff Yasir al-Isawi told a press conference that the forces operated at the Shalamcheh, Shayib, Zarbatiyah, Mendali, Munziriya and Safwan land and air border crossings. Security and military deployment extended from roads in Basra, Dhi Qar, Muthanna, Diwaniyah, Najaf, Wasit, Diyala, Kirkuk and Baghdad toward Karbala, he said. PMF Middle Euphrates Operations Commander Brigadier General Ali al-Hamdani said three control centers were opened in Diwaniyah, Najaf and Babil to coordinate with police commands and provincial governors. He said 24,454 personnel were assigned to the Middle Euphrates area of operations, supported by 1,863 ambulances, water tankers and transport vehicles, along with 530 health, security and communications units covering 40,669 kilometers from the border to Karbala. The technical deployment included 3,424 thermal cameras, tactical drones, radar and jamming devices, while 80 doctors from Christian, Yazidi, Turkmen, Shabak, Kurdish and Arab communities served in hospitals and health units, al-Hamdani said. On the cultural and service side, 206 preachers worked in the field, alongside 12 guidance centers, 11 Quran schools, 3,395 Husayni assemblies and 206 hospitality convoys, with more than 1,000 transport vehicles mobilized to supply water and ice to walking columns and pilgrims.