BLOODY RITES AND BODY PARTS
Photos by Nir Rosen

Before the bombings  
Iraqi Shi'ites observe Ashura, which commemorates the seventh-century martyrdom of Hussein, the third imam, with ceremonies and rites that include collective and public acts of self-flagellation and mutilation. The photographs below were taken in Karbala as Ashura climaxed on Tuesday, just hours before bombs exploded simultaneously at shrines in Karbala and Baghdad.