Lebanon's Shiite Muslims mark Ashura amid calls for Hezbollah to disarm and security threats
This year's Ashura celebrations also come amid huge pressure on the Iran-backed group to disarm and security concerns surrounding the event that is one of the most important for Shiite Muslims around the world.
Events are expected to be held across the country, but the largest will be in the southern suburbs of Beirut – a densely populated area predominantly home to the Shia community - and the target of heavy Israeli bombardment last year.
Ashura marks the commemoration by Shiite Muslims of the death of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson, Imam Hussein bin Ali, in the 7th century. The gatherings draw large crowds in Lebanon and are typically used by Hezbollah to show its strong following and support base.
However, this year's processions will be the first without a speech by Hassan Nasrallah, the group's leader who was killed in an Israeli strike on the southern suburbs in September.
Sunday's events will be held under strong security measures. This is not unusual given that large crowds and attendance of senior figures, but recent arrests of cells linked to ISIS have led to fears of attacks targeting the Ashura procession.
Cars and bags were searched as The National was escorted by Hezbollah into the heart of Dahieh.
The commemoration has already been steeped in controversy in Lebanon. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Saturday ordered the arrest of armed men taking part in a procession related to Ashura.
Hezbollah is under pressure to disarm as the government seeks to remove weapons from all non-state actors. The group's top military leadership was killed and a large part of its arsenal destroyed during more than a year of war with Israel that ended with a ceasefire agreement in November that Israel has been accused of breaching more than 3,000 times.
Hezbollah also stayed out of the recent 12-day war between Israel and the group's main patron Iran.
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The National
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The conflict ended in November, leaving Hezbollah, once Iran's most prized asset, significantly weakened, with much of its arsenal destroyed and parts of its leadership decimated. Hezbollah's disarmament, once considered a political taboo, is now on the table. In June, Mr Barrack, the US special envoy to Syria and ambassador to Turkey, sent a roadmap to Lebanese authorities calling on Hezbollah to relinquish its weapons across the country within a few months, in exchange for financial support and a halt of continuing Israeli military operations. "Lebanon's hope awakens!!! The opportunity is now. This is a historic moment to supersede the strained confessionalism of the past," M Barrack wrote on X ahead of his visit. Hezbollah has been holding clandestine talks to decide on its future, Reuters reported on Friday. 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