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S.sabawoon / EPA
Afghan Shiite Muslims flagellate themselves during an Ashoura procession in Kabul on Nov. 24.
Each year during Ashoura, Shiite Muslim men & boys whip their backs with chains and cut their heads with knives, drenching themselves in blood to mourn the loss of one of the faith's most revered figures, Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammad, who was killed in the 7th century battle of Kerbala.
Thaier Al-sudani / Reuters
Shiite Muslim worshippers, covered in their own blood from self-inflicted wounds, hold knives during a procession to mark the Muslim festival of Ashoura in Baghdad's Sadr City on Nov. 24.
Thaier Al-sudani / Reuters
An Iraqi Shiite Muslim child gashes his forehead with a sword during a ceremony marking Ashoura in Baghdad's Sadr City on Nov. 24.
Murad Sezer / Reuters
Turkish Shiite women during an Ashoura procession in Istanbul on Nov. 24.
Dar Yasin / AP
Blood runs down the face of a Kashmiri Shiite Muslim as he participates in a procession in Srinagar, India, on Nov. 24.
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