Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, the Kingdom of Bahrain announced that 140 of its citizens have been stranded in Karbala after undertaking the Arbaeen pilgrimage without proper authorization.

According to Bahrain's Ambassador in Baghdad, the individuals were part of an unlicensed tour group. Their passports were confiscated by a hotel owner in Karbala when the tour operator, who has since gone missing, failed to pay hotel fees totaling 15,000 Bahraini Dinars (approximately $40,000). In response, the hotel proprietor withheld the passports of the Bahraini visitors.

The ambassador stated that the Bahraini embassy, in coordination with the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Iraq's Ministry of Interior, successfully recovered the passports and returned them to the stranded citizens.

Efforts are now underway to coordinate with relevant authorities to ensure their safe return to Bahrain, as reported by the Bahraini newspaper "Al-Watan".