Some 100 people from Afghanistan and Pakistan recently arrested in Iraq, were pilgrims who had been abandoned at the border by their Iranian tour guides, a national guard officer said on Friday. "We have 49 men, 26 women and 37 children who were seeking refuge in some Iraqi villages after they were left stranded on the border," said Mahmud Abdelaziz, the commander for the national guard in Munziriya, a town north-east of Baghdad.
The pilgrims had paid their guide 50,000 dinars (35 dollars, 28 euros) to take them to the sacred Shiite city of Karbala, 110 kilometres (69 miles) south of the Iraqi capital.
Instead of visiting holy sites, the group was arrested by Iraq's border guards during searches of the villages between October 11 and 14, said Captain Fayssal Abdelkarim, who helps to guard the Diyala border.
The same officer had announced that 135 Afghans and Pakistanis were captured in the operation, which also resulted in the discovery of numerous weapons, including Kalashnikovs and rocket launchers, and ammunition.
Abdelaziz, however, explained that the arms belonged to the villagers and not the pilgrims who were now lodging in a mosque in Munziriya after initially being detained at the border guard's base.
Iraqi authorities frequently announce the arrest of people from Afghanistan who cross illegally into the country to make pilgrimages to the sacred cities of Najaf and Karbala.