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Shi'ite Muslims perform with fire during commemorations Ashura in Najaf, November 3, 2014. REUTERS/ Alaa Al-Marjani

By Haider Kadhim

KERBALA Iraq (Reuters) - A gathering of millions of Shi'ite Muslims at shrines and mosques across Iraq for the Ashoura religious commemoration passed without any major attacks on Tuesday, under tight security imposed for fear of Islamic State bombers.

Crowds of hundreds of thousands of people in the holy city of Kerbala had largely dispersed in safety after nightfall, following a day of worship and prayer to mark the 7th century battle that divided the Muslim world into Sunnis and Shi'ites.

But seven pilgrims returning home from Kerbala were killed in separate roadside bomb attacks in the town of Latifiya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police and medical sources said.

Dozens of pilgrims were killed in Baghdad alone in the run-up to this year's event, despite an increase in security since suspected al Qaeda suicide bombers and mortar attacks killed 171 people during Ashoura in Kerbala and Baghdad in 2004.

But no mass killings were reported in Iraq as Shi'ites across the Muslim world commemorated the slaying of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Hussein at the battle of Kerbala in AD 680.

Gunmen shot dead at least five people in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, state news agency SPA reported, in what local residents said was an attack on Shi'ite Muslim worshippers on Monday night, testing already strained relations between Sunnis and Shi'ites across the Middle East.

Islamic State, seen as more ruthless than al Qaeda, says Shi'ites are infidels who deserve to be killed. The group, which seized large parts of northern Iraq this year, regularly claims responsibility for suicide bombings against Shi'ites, who are a minority in Islam but form the majority in Iraq.

In Kerbala, huge masses of pilgrims gathered outside the Shrine of Imam Hussein where the grandson of the Prophet is buried, chanting: "Hussein, Hussein, Hussein." During the ritual, Shi'ites beat their heads and chests and gash their heads with swords to show their grief at Hussein's suffering.

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Iraq Shi'ite Ashoura ritual escapes attacks