Car bombs ripped through Iraq on Friday, exploding at four Shiite mosques in Baghdad and another in Kirkuk, killing a total of 17 worshippers. Sunni militants linked to Al Qaeda have intensified their attacks on Shiites since the U.S. pullout, though they haven’t matched the intensity of the sectarian bloodshed that erupted before the U.S. “surge” in 2006. Security officials say Al Qaeda is regrouping in the Western part of Iraq, invigorated by a flow of Islamic fighters who have been battling Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
