Hawzah News Agency-Tasu’a and Ashura, the ninth and 10th days of the month of Muharam, are days of mourning in Shia Islam to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, according to The Independent.

Ashura involves reenactments of the Battle of Karbala in which Hussein died in 680 AD, and public processions of intense collective grief accompanied by poetry recitals. In many parts of the world, observers beat their chests and heads.

Many organizations, including Lebanon's Hezbollah, encourage people wishing to observe Ashura to donate to blood banks.

In Beirut’s southern suburbs tens of thousands of men and women wearing black took part in a procession which ended in a speech by Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in which he repeated an earlier declaration that this year’s Ashura is dedicated to the suffering of people in Yemen.

Many mourners carried Yemeni flags during the march and chanted anti-Saudi Arabia slogans. The Saudi kingdom is currently leading a bombing campaign against Shia Houthi rebels in the country, which has killed thousands of civilians.

The Beirut procession took place under tight security, as did processions in Iraq and Pakistan.

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