In pictures: Ashura ceremonies

Shia Muslims have been taking part in the religious ceremony of Ashura which commemorates the death of the Imam Hussein at the battle of Kerbala in 680 AD.

The event marked the divide in Islam between Shias and the majority Sunnis.

Ashura is the peak of 10 days of mourning during the Islamic month of Moharram.

In some Shia strongholds, men flagellate themselves in rituals in which they share the suffering of the Imam.

The story of the martyrdom of Mohammed's grandson Hussein was recited in Beirut, causing clerics to weep

Men beat themselves with chains in a display of mourning for the seventh century Imam

Other devotees cut themselves with swords

In a procession in Istanbul giant posters of the Imam were carried

Turkish women wore scarves bearing the name of Hussein's sister Zeynep

And boys beat themselves on the chest as they proceeded through the streets

In Afghanistan, women and girls watched the ceremony being celebrated openly for the first time in years