(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - More than five million visitors will commemorate al-Ziyara al-Shaabaniya, birthday anniversary of Imam al-Mahdi (AS) in holy city of Karbala by the end of the week, Iraqi governor said on Saturday.

"More than five million visitors will come to the city, including more than 500,000 Arab and foreign visitors from different parts of the world," Engineer Amal al-Din al-Hurr told to the reporters.

"The government has intensified efforts to serve the visitors," he added.

The al-Ziyara al-Shaabaniya, literally the mid-Shaaban visit, is a pilgrimage to revive the memory of the birth of the Messiah-like Imam al-Mahdi (AS), the 12th holiest figure for Shiites Muslims.

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