Ashora ceremonies (the tenth day of Muharram) were held peacefully under tight security measures in Kabul city on Sunday.

Ceremonies were held at a couple of mosques in PD4 and were attended by both Shia and Sunni Muslims who said they would stand together united. They in turn called on the nation to do the same.

Security forces meanwhile said they had ramped up security at 400 mosques across Kabul in the past 10 days and that in the lead up to Sunday’s ceremonies, numerous roads in the capital had been closed to traffic.

People across the city were however afraid of an attack during this holy Shia day but all the ceremonies went off peacefully.

During the course of the day, security forces said they were ready to safeguard all mosques.

“We are ready and standing against all the threats. Preparations were made from 10 days ago,” said the commander of PD4, Farooq Asas.

In addition to the security forces, 500 members of the public were also trained in basic security skills to help security forces safeguard the mosques.

One public force member, Zakarya, said at a mosque: “We have three security gates in which we along with the police and national security forces are stationed at.”

Meanwhile, a number of members of the Afghanistan Green Trend (AGT) movement also joined mourners at a some mosques.

The members said they joined Imam Hussain mourners out of solidarity and their message was “down with religious division.”

“We have come here to say “No” to terrorists and those who want to create discord (among the people) and want to express our hatred of them,” one AGT member Nasir Ahmad Farahmand said.

“Terrorist attacks on mosques are against the religion and Islamic values and do not belong in religion,” another AGT member Abdul Sattar Saadat said.

Mourners of the grandson of Prophet Mohammad, Imam Hussain, also sent out messages of “solidarity and unity”.

“Shia and Sunni are flowers of a garden. We are united and right now a number of our Sunni brothers have come to the mosque,” said one Imam Hussain mourner, Mohammad Ayub.

Over 10,000 mosques are in the country of which more than 400 are in Kabul. 

The Ashora ceremonies were held during heightened threat levels against Shia mosques by Daesh insurgents. In addition, the ceremonies were just two days after a mosque was attacked in Kabul, which resulted in the death of six people.