Hizbullah, AMAL Boost Security Measures during Ashura
Hizbullah and AMAL movement are taking maximum security measures and precautions to ensure the safety of mourners commemorating the occasion of Ashura that begins on October 25.
The two Shiite parties decided not to minimize their Ashura congregations and processions despite the rising security fears, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Saturday.
The daily said that Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will have several televised speeches during the occasion.
Media reports recently said that terrorists are planning to carry out sabotage operations targeting Ashura processions.
Ashura marks the death of Imam Hussein over 1,300 years ago.
Millions of Shiites around the world mark Ashura, which this year climaxes on November 3, by setting up procession tents.
Hizbullah has sent fighters to Syria to back President Bashar Assad's forces against rebels trying to remove him from power. The armed intervention in Syria earned the Shiite group the enmity of Syria's predominantly Sunni rebels. Assad is a member of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
Over the past year, Syrian troops and Hizbullah fighters have captured most of the towns and villages in Syria's mountainous Qalamun region along the Lebanon border, depriving the rebels of residential areas where they can stay during the winter.
Hizbullah fighters have also clashed with jihadists, who infiltrated Lebanese territories.
Al-Qaida's Syrian affiliate al-Nusra Front recently attacked positions manned by Hizbullah on the outskirts of Brital, killing several of its fighters.
There have been reports of other skirmishes between Hizbullah and militants along the Lebanon-Syria border.
H.K.
D.A.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/152639 |