IRNA - A senior Pakistani official in south western Baloshistan province says out of 30,000 pilgrims, 15,000 have been sent to Iran for Arbaeen after clearance at Taftan border.


Deputy Commissioner of Chaghi District told media that 8,000 more pilgrims will be cleared in the next 2 days and the local administration is providing food and water to the pilgrims.

He said this is the first time that such a large number of pilgrims have reached Taftan, adding that additional staff of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has reached to speed up the process of clearance of pilgrims.

The border officials say the immigration office is working round the clock to clear the pilgrims, but it will take some time to give clearance to all pilgrims.

Earlier Ambassador of Iran to Pakistan Mehdi Honardoost told IRNA that the embassy was expecting to issue 200,000 visas for facilitating Pakistani pilgrims for Arbaeen pilgrimage this year.
The reason for increase in the number of pilgrims is that Iran has ended medical certificate condition for visa seeking Pakistanis and has also introduced (e-visa ) which has allowed the pilgrims to get their visa prepared in just two days.

Like other countries of the world, Muslims in Pakistan belonging to Shia community are getting prepared to travel to Iraq and Iran for Arbaeen.

Arbaeen, falling on November 9 this year, is a Shia Muslim religious observance that occurs forty days after the Day of Ashura to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS), the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and the third Imam of Shia Muslims.

It marks the 40th day after the martyrdom anniversary of the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), Imam Hussein (AS).

Each year, pilgrims, mainly from Iraq and Iran, travel long routes on foot to Karbala, where the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) is located.

Last year, around 20 million pilgrims from all over the world gathered in Karbala on Arbaeen.

Shia Muslims account for 20 percent of the Muslim population in Pakistan and the country is home to the second largest Shia population after Iran.