Iraqi forces have arrested 80 suspected militants accused of plotting attacks on crowds of Shiite pilgrims thronging the holy shrine city of Karbala for Ashura commemorations, a general said.
The arrests were made in 14 raids in Karbala province and neighbouring Babil province, General Othman al-Ghanimi, who is in charge of security in five central Iraqi provinces, told a news conference late Wednesday.
"Based on intelligence, soldiers were able to raid 14 terrorist cells and arrest 80 militants," Ghanimi said.
"They were planning to attack pilgrims on Friday," during the culmination of the 10-day Ashura rituals.
Karbala is under heavy security for Ashura, with a total of two million pilgrims expected to descend on the city by Friday.
Some 28,000 soldiers and policemen have been deployed as part of security operations, with a further 7,000 available if needed.
This year's Ashura ceremonies mark a key test for Iraq's security forces with just over a year to go before the around-50,000 US forces left in the country must withdraw completely, under the terms of a security pact.
Ashura has in previous years been a target for Sunni Arab extremists, who see the commemorations as symbolically highlighting the split between Islam's two main communities.
A roadside bomb in the middle of a west Baghdad Shiite procession killed 10 worshippers on Tuesday. A total of 17 pilgrims have been killed since the beginning of the rituals on December 8.
The deadliest Ashura attacks were in March 2004, when near-simultaneous bombings at a Shiite mosque in Baghdad and in Karbala killed more than 170 people.
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