Iraqi Civil Defense Announces Full Readiness Plan for Ashura Pilgrimage in Karbala

Iraqi Civil Defense Announces Full Readiness Plan for Ashura Pilgrimage in Karbala
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The Iraqi Civil Defense Directorate has announced a comprehensive security and service plan to protect pilgrims during the Ashura pilgrimage in the holy city of Karbala.

The directorate said it has raised its readiness level to maximum and deployed firefighting, rescue and rapid response teams across Karbala and the main routes leading to the city.

Nawas Sabah, director of the Public Relations and Media Department at the Civil Defense Directorate, said new 2026 model vehicles manufactured in the United Kingdom have been brought into service to strengthen emergency response capabilities. The vehicles will support firefighting, rescue operations, hazardous materials response and the handling of unexploded ordnance.

Civil defense teams from Anbar, Nineveh, Diyala and Salah al-Din have also been sent to Karbala as reserve units, while teams in central and southern Iraq remain on full alert.

Sabah said inspection teams have checked hotels, markets, commercial buildings and other facilities to ensure fire alarm systems, fire suppression equipment and emergency exits are ready. Some hotels that failed to meet safety standards were closed and barred from receiving guests until technical requirements were fulfilled.

The directorate has also prepared an awareness programme in coordination with the Imam Hussein and Al-Abbas holy shrines and Husseini processions. The campaign includes distributing public safety instructions and encouraging quick reporting of incidents.

Volunteers have been trained in first aid, especially for cases of suffocation, heat exhaustion and crowd stampedes. Ambulance teams have also been equipped with CPR devices to assist elderly pilgrims, injured people and those with respiratory conditions.

The Civil Defense Directorate said its experience in securing mass pilgrimages helped shape a deployment plan covering the main roads and movement routes into Karbala, with the aim of protecting visitors and ensuring the smooth observance of Ashura rituals commemorating Imam Hussein, peace be upon him.