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Bloody displays as Shiites flagellate themselves for Ashoura

GRAPHIC WARNING:This post contains graphic images which some viewers may find disturbing.
Image: Afghan Shi'ite Muslims celebrate Ashura
Afghan Shiite Muslims flagellate themselves during an Ashoura procession in Kabul on Nov. 24.S.sabawoon / EPA / EPA

GRAPHIC WARNING:This post contains graphic images which some viewers may find disturbing. 

Image: Afghan Shi'ite Muslims celebrate Ashura
Afghan Shiite Muslims flagellate themselves during an Ashoura procession in Kabul on Nov. 24.S.sabawoon / EPA / EPA

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.

Image: Shiite Muslim worshippers, stained by their own blood from self inflicted wounds, hold knives during a procession to mark the Muslim festival of Ashura, an important period of mourning for Shiites in Baghdad
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 / X90151
Image: An Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim child gashes his forehead with a sword during a ceremony marking Ashura in Baghdad
An Iraqi Shiite Muslim child gashes his forehead with a sword during a ceremony marking Ashoura in Baghdad's Sadr City on Nov. 24.Thaier Al-sudani / Reuters / X90151
Image: Turkish Shi'ite women shout Islamic slogans as they mourn during an Ashura procession in Istanbul
Turkish Shiite women during an Ashoura procession in Istanbul on Nov. 24.Murad Sezer / Reuters / X90138
Image:
Blood runs down the face of a Kashmiri Shiite Muslim as he participates in a procession in Srinagar, India, on Nov. 24.Dar Yasin / AP / AP

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