VIOLENCE

26 Killed in Iraq Car Bombs

Shiites targeted on last day of pilgrimage.

At least 26 people were killed when two car bombs exploded in Baghdad Saturday. More than 100 have died in Iraq’s capital this week as a result of bombings directed at a Shiite pilgrimage. One of the explosions went off near the shrine to Imam Moussa al-Kadhim, an eighth-century saint. The shrine is in a heavily guarded area to which hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims flock each year. This weekend’s bombings, clearly directed at Shiites, are believed to be coming from Sunni militants, with the help of al Qaeda—attacks aimed to challenge Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government and suggest a reigniting of regular violence between the two Muslim sects that resulted in Iraq’s near civil war a few years ago.