All the entrances to the predominately Shia southern suburbs of Beirut were closed at midnight Monday to help prevent militant attacks against worshippers observing Ashura Tuesday.
No one will be able to enter the suburbs until the end of the religious ceremonies, the Internal Security Forces said in a statement.
Reports Monday said security forces were carrying out extra searches of vehicles entering the suburbs on the eve of the holiday, creating heavy traffic jams.
Dozens of police and Army checkpoints sprung up throughout the southern suburbs and at its entrances last year during a series of car bomb and suicide attacks targeting neighborhoods seen as sympathetic to Hezbollah.
Many of the attacks in the southern suburbs and eastern Bekaa Valley were carried out by jihadists affiliated with the Nusra Front and ISIS, which are holding 27 Lebanese policemen and soldiers hostage near the northeast border town of Arsal.
The municipality of Hermel said Monday that a 24-hour curfew on Syrians would be imposed for Ashura in order to prevent violence.
The Ashura marches have been an issue of great concern due to the risk of bombings by jihadists, who say Hezbollah invited the attacks after intervening in Syria on the side of government forces.
Ashura marches are particularly vulnerable because of the massive participation in the events.
Extremists have carried out a number of attacks on Shia targets during the 10 days of Ashura in other parts of the region. A bomb killed 14 Shia pilgrims in the Sadr City area of Baghdad Sunday, after two similar deadly explosions had killed 20 people in the Iraqi capital.
The day of Ashura is on the 10th day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar and is commemorated by Shias as the day when Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad, was killed.
His death came during a battle in the city of Karbala, 100 kilometers southwest Baghdad, in A.D. 680.
Millions of Shia are expected to march in Karbala Tuesday, while the Iraqi authorities have stepped up security measures to prevent any jihadist threat.
