Shafaq News/ The National Security Agency (NSA) raised on Wednesday the alert status to its utmost levels ahead of the Arbaeen pilgrimage rituals and the legislative elections scheduled for next month.

According to a press release of the NSA issued earlier today, the head of the agency, Abdul Ghani al-Asadi, chaired the security meeting of Baghdad's municipality and security authorities.

Al-Asadi, according to NSA, instructed the authorities in the Iraqi capital to announce the general alert status in preparation for the Arbaeen pilgrimage and the parliamentary elections.

"The agency, officers and members, is at the same distance from all the political parties and forces, and intervening in the elections is prohibited," he said, "deterring security breaches is contingent for securing the capital since it lies on the route of the pilgrims to Karbala."

"We shall continue pursuing the remnants of ISIS terrorist groups that attempt to make a media fuss from time to time," he said.

The Arbaʽeen Pilgrimage, or the Arbaʽeen Walk, is the world's largest annual public gatherings. It is held at Karbala, Iraq, at the end of the 40-day mourning period following Ashura, the religious ritual for commemorating the martyrdom of the grandson of Prophet Mohammad and the third Shia Muslim Imam, Husayn ibn Ali's in 61 AH (680 AD).