Some nine million Shiite pilgrims visited the Iraqi shrine city of Karbala for Arbaeen, one of the holiest days in the Shiite calendar that culminates on Thursday, a local police chief said. "The number of people who visited Karbala has touched nine million," Major General Raed Shakir Jawdat told AFP.
Akhil al-Khazali, the governor of Karbala, said it was a "record" turnout. Nearly 50,000 Iraqi policemen and troops have been deployed in and around Karbala to thwart any possible insurgent attacks during the ceremony.
Meanwhile, American troops killed an Iraqi civilian as he approached their foot patrol north of Baghdad, the military said Thursday. The man was wearing a bulky jacket and had his hands in his pockets Wednesday as he walked toward the troops in the area around Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, according to a statement, cited by the AP.
American soldiers issued warnings for the man to stop, then killed him when he failed to heed them, the military said, adding no weapon was found when the man was searched. No U.S. troops were wounded in the incident.
Iraqi police in Diyala province, where Muqdadiyah is located, said the slain man was elderly and suffered from mental disabilities and hearing problems. The police said the killing occurred in a market.
In a separate incident, the military said a young Iraqi man that may have been mentally disabled was shot and wounded after he ran toward a patrol Thursday in Tahrir, another Diyala town.
