Shi'ite Muslims mark their holiest day in war-battered Lebanon

NABATIEH, Lebanon, June 26 - Chanting rhythmically in the summer sun, the men marched through the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh as part of their annual tradition to mark Ashura, the holiest day in the Shi'ite Muslim calendar. This year, they walked through a city in ruins.

Israel's nearly four-month air and ground campaign that it says was targeting armed group Hezbollah has destroyed large swathes of Lebanon's south and left other parts of it under Israeli military occupation.

Nabatieh and surrounding towns have been hit particularly hard, and Israel has kept up some strikes on nearby towns despite a ceasefire that took hold on June 20. On Friday, the Ashura procession snaked through piles of rubble and rebar, the men appearing as specks of white in a moonscape of smashed concrete.

MARCHERS CARRY IMAGES OF WAR DEAD

Some carried posters of Hezbollah fighters who had been killed in Israeli strikes and others had printed portraits of slain loved ones on their shirts.

For Shi'ite Muslims, Ashura is a solemn day that marks the killing of Imam Hussein, a revered figure. In Lebanon, Shi'ites would flock to Nabatieh on Ashura for an elaborate re-enactment, but it had been cancelled this year due to the security situation, residents said.

Still, they struck a defiant tone.

Nabatieh resident Saad Baraket told Reuters that confronting Israel was a way to follow in Imam Hussein's path. "We are continuing to defend our land, just as Hussein defended his land," he said.

Ghada Sabeh, another Nabatieh resident, said she had been marking Ashura since she was a child.

"We cannot abandon it. No person, no country, and no enemy can prevent us from performing this duty towards Imam Hussein, peace be upon him. This is our hometown, we cannot leave it no matter what happens," she said.

CROWDS PACK BEIRUT'S SOUTHERN SUBURBS

The recent war erupted on March 2 when Hezbollah fired at Israel in support of Iran, triggering an intense Israeli air and ground campaign.

More than 1.2 million people were displaced and more than 4,000 killed in Lebanon, including more than 250 children and nearly 400 women, according to Lebanon's health ministry. Its toll does not say how many combatants may be among the dead and Hezbollah has not disclosed figures on its war dead.

In a televised address on Friday to mark Ashura, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said Israeli troops still occupying southern Lebanon must leave and that Lebanon must not normalize ties with Israel.

Hezbollah is firmly against direct talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials taking place in Washington, with a fifth round underway this week.

In Beirut's southern suburbs, also known as the Dahiyeh, thousands gathered to watch Qassem's address, broadcast on a screen from an undisclosed location. The area is effectively controlled by Hezbollah and was also struck by Israel's military during this war.

"We have returned to the Dahiyeh despite all the destruction, despite all the sorrow, and despite all the pain," 25-year-old Mohsen Najdi said.

"Nothing will shake our resolve, God willing." REUTERS