iracheno con osprey a bagdad

an iraqi youth offers food for iraqi police commandos at a checkpoint in central baghdad, 18 january 2008. a curfew is slapped on baghdad and 10 iraqi provinces during the three-day peak of shiite islam's festival of ashura. up to a million pilgrims are expected to descend on karbala in time for the climax of the annual rituals on january 19, many traveling on foot and exposed to attack by sunni insurgents, who annually prey on the popular event.