Shiites mark holy day in defiance of jihadists

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Huge crowds of Shiites gathered in Iraq and Lebanon Tuesday to mark a key holy day in defiance of jihadists from the Islamic State group.

Police and troops were out in force as hundreds of thousands of pilgrims massed in the Iraqi shrine city of Karbala to commemorate Ashura.

Tens of thousands more rallied in Beirut, where the head of the Shiite militant Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, pledged "victory" against the Sunni extremists of IS. (AFP)