IRAQ: Celebratory shooters come under fire

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Celebratory gunfire is a time-honored — and occasionally deadly — tradition in Iraq. No wedding or soccer victory is complete without it.

But in the southern city of Samawah, patience appears to be wearing thin with the practice. When revelers began firing rounds into the air over the three-day Eid al-Fitr celebrations that mark the end of Ramadan, the police media department issued this curt statement:

‘Three newlywed grooms were arrested by the police during the Eid days because of the random celebratory shooting by their families during the wedding celebrations, which resulted in annoying the civilians. We need to end this phenomenon.’

— Alexandra Zavis in Baghdad