
Hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims commemorated the seventh-century killing of Mohammed's grandson by cutting themselves and children with swords and blades swinging from chains.

Past processions have faced attacks from Sunni extremists including Islamic State, which today resulted in 25,000 members of Iraqi security forces being deployed to the shrine city of Karbala to protect believers.

Some chanted slogans against Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani, like 'Barzani you are the sponsor of dividing the country' and 'don't believe we will ever give you Kirkuk'.

A Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim man holds his son as he bleeds after he was cut on the forehead with a razor during a religious procession to mark Ashura in Nabatiyeh

Iraqi Shi'ite Muslims gash the forehead of a boy with a sword during the religious festival of Ashura in Baghdad

Hundreds of thousands gathered in Karbala, Iraq, where security forces protected their Ashura procession

An Iraqi Shiite Muslim uses a knife to cut the top of a boy's head as they take part in a traditional mourning event during Ashura, a festival previously attacked by Islamic State

This Iraqi Shiite Muslim child was one of millions across the world to take part in the Ashura celebration, which centres on flagellation

The faithful cut themselves to mark the holy day in Basra as part of a procession mourning Mohammed's grandson

Pilgrims in Karbala, Iraq, where 25,000 members of the security forces were deployed to protect the procession from terrorists such as Islamic State

Barzani's autonomous region in northern Iraq held a referendum on September 25 that saw voters overwhelmingly back independence for Iraqi Kurdistan.

The vote was also held in disputed areas like the city of Kirkuk.

Hamed al-Obays, one of the organisers of the procession, said the chants opposed the 'separatist conspiracy in northern Iraq'.

Pilgrims cut themselves with swords as they weep and beat their chests in mourning during the annual Ashura ceremonies.

Muslims in the Iraqi city of Najaf cut themselves with swords as part of the Ashura procession

An Iraqi Shiite Muslim in Najaf uses a knife to cut the top of a man's head as they take part in a traditional mourning event marking the killing of Imam Hussein

Blood drips down the face of a Shiite Muslim in Najaf, where believers gathered to cut one another in memory of Mohammed's grandson

A child in Sadr, Iraq, takes part in the procession, which commemorates the beheading of Imam Hussein

Shiite Muslims flagellate themselves during an Ashura procession in Athens, Greece, today

Afghan Shiite Muslim devotees beat themselves with chains and blades as part of a self-flagellation ritual during Ashura commemorations in the Ghazni province

Mourners flagellate themselves during a Muharram procession to mark Ashura, in Ahmedabad, India

A Lebanese Shiite Muslim man carries a sword as he bleeds after he was cut on the forehead with a razor during a religious procession to mark Ashura in Nabatiyeh town, southern Lebanon

Shiite migrants to Greece flagellate themselves during the celebrations in an industral area of Piraeus near Athens

The festival marks the killing of Imam Hussein by the forces of the Caliph Yazid in 680 AD - a formative event in Shiite Islam.

Imam Hussein's death was part of a dispute over who should succeed Islam's prophet Mohammed.

Ashura commemorates the killing of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, by the army of the Caliph Yazid in 680 AD

Iraqi Shiite Muslims take part in a traditional mourning event during Ashura commemorations that mark the killing of Imam Hussein

Believers beat and cut themselves to mark Ashura, which mourns the beheading of Imam Hussein

A Shiite Muslim boy uses blades on chains to flagellate himself during a Muharram procession to mark Ashura in Chennai, India

A Shiite Muslim boy prays after he beat himself at a mosque during a religious festival marking Ashura in central Yangon, Myanmar

A Pakistani Shiite Muslim flagellates in the Ashura procession in Lahore, marking the seventh-century killing of Mohammed's grandson

A Shiite Muslim mourner flagellates himself during a Muharram procession to mark Ashura in Srinagar

Shiite Muslim migrants lash themselves during the celebrations of the religious holiday of Ashura at an industrial area of Piraeus near Athens

Migrants in Greece use chains to swing blades and cut their flesh during commemorations near Athens

A Lebanese Shiite Muslim woman takes a selfie with a man as he bleeds after being cut on the forehead with a razor

Tradition holds that the revered imam was decapitated and his body mutilated in the Battle of Karbala, a belief commemorated here by migrants in Greece

A believer near Athens slices open his flesh as part of a Muharram procession to mark Ashura

Shiite Muslims in Greece flagellate themselves to commemorate the killing of Mohammed's grandson

It developed into a bitter schism between the Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam.

Many Shiite worshippers travel from neighbouring Iran and other countries each year to visit Imam Hussein's shrine in Karbala, which lies about 80 kilometres (50 miles) southwest of Baghdad.

Millions of others across the Shiite world, from Lebanon to south Asia, hold processions in their home towns, performing a variety of rituals, many involving flagellation.

What does Ashura mean to Shias? Though Sunni Muslims mark the festival, it carries special significance for Shiite Muslims (Shias) as a commemoration of the martyrdom at Karbala Hussein in Karbala in 680 AD. Ashura falls on the 10th of Muharram, which is the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar.

Believers seek to emulate Hussein's suffering by flagellating themselves with chains or cutting their foreheads to let blood run down their bodies. Some leaders discourage bloodletting and argue it fuels negativity toward Shiite Muslims, with some groups encouraging people to donate blood. Hussein's beheading split Islam into the two main sects - Sunnis and Shias. Shias supported Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed, as Islam's fourth ruler. The schism occurred when Imam Ali did not become leader of the Islamic community after Mohammed's death. After Ali was murdered in AD 661, his chief opponent, Caliph Muawiya, leader. He was succeeded by his son Yazid, but Ali's son, Hussein, fought him over claims he was an illegitimate ruler. This led to Hussein and his followers being massacred in battle at Karbala. This created a cult of martyrdom representing a struggle against tyranny. Advertisement

A Shi'ite Muslim living in Greece flagellates himself during a Muharram procession to mark Ashura in Piraeus, near Athens, Greece

Believers swing blades attache to chains to cut open their flesh in act of self-flagellation near Athens in Greece

A Shiites Muslim boy cuts his head open as another prepares to do the same in Ahmedabad, India

Muslims march through Tehran, Iran, as the Shiite country commemorates the beheading of Mohammed's grandson

Shiite Muslims take part in the religious festival, Ashura, by self-flogging and shouting religious slogans in Manama, Bahrain

Pakistani Shiite Muslims flagellate themselves at a mourning procession on Ashura, during the the sacred month of Muharram

Shiite Muslims take part in the religious festival, Ashura, holding swords and shouting religious slogans in Manama, Bahrain