In pictures: Mourners commemorate Ashura with processions nationwide
Why this matters: local context for readers following news across Pakistan and the region.
Mourners participated in Muharram 10 processions across the country on Friday in observance of Ashura. Yaum-i-Ashura is observed every year with mourning processions and religious gatherings to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (RA) and his companions in the Battle of Karbala in 680AD. Processions took place amid tight security arrangements, with 20,000 police personnel deployed across Karachi, along with Army and Rangers units and thousands of police personnel in Rawalpindi. Meanwhile, mobile phone services and internet connectivity have been suspended in Quetta and other sensitive areas of Balochistan during the processions. Mourners holding portraits of Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei take part in a procession to mark Ashura on the tenth day of Muharram in Karachi on June 26, 2026. — AFP Mourners touch a horse symbolising the mount of Imam Hussain during a procession marking Ashura on the tenth day of Muharram in Karachi on June 26, 2026. — AFP Mourners march during a religious procession marking Ashura on the tenth day of Muharram in Karachi on June 26, 2026. — AFP Security personnel stand guard as mourners march during a religious procession marking Ashura on the tenth day of Muharram in Karachi on June 26, 2026. — AFP Mourners take part in a religious procession marking Ashura on the tenth day of Muharram in Lahore on June 26, 2026. — AFP Mourners take part in a religious procession marking Ashura on the tenth day of Muharram in Lahore on June 26, 2026. — AFP Volunteers frisk a mourner beside the posters of Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei and late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the Muharram procession on the tenth day of Ashura in Rawalpindi on June 26, 2026. — AFP Mourners offer noon prayers during the Muharram procession on the tenth day of Ashura in Rawalpindi on June 26, 2026. — AFP Security personnel stand guard during the Muharram procession on the tenth day of Ashura in Quetta on June 26, 2026. — AFP Mourne