Shafaq News– Najaf

Authorities in Iraq’s Najaf have cleared nearly 150 Husseini processions (mawakib)* along the Najaf–Karbala road as part of redevelopment plans that include construction of a new bridge, a source told Shafaq News on Tuesday.

The action has prompted objections from procession owners, who warned that the removals could permanently erase their sites. Speaking to our agency, several owners called on the Najaf governor to issue an immediate, binding order to stop the demolitions, describing them as “unjustified and harmful.” Investors, working with municipal bodies and security forces, they said, carried out the removals without legal grounds, despite the mawakib being established by local families since 2004.

According to the owners, the removals caused losses amounting to millions of dinars after structures and contents were destroyed without prior notice. They demanded accountability, stressing that their “aim is to preserve the religious services provided annually to residents and pilgrims and to prevent further forced removals.”

Shafaq News sought comment from the Najaf Municipality Directorate but received no response.

* Husseini processions (mawakib) are community-run religious service stations that provide free food, water, rest areas, and medical assistance to pilgrims during major Shiite commemorations. These include Ashura, marking the martyrdom of the third Shia Imam Hussein ibn Ali —the grandson of Prophet Muhammad— who was killed with his family and companions at the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE, and the Arbaeen pilgrimage held forty days later.

Read more: Karbala's call: Ashura's spiritual resonance and its surging economic tide