Hostage killed, insurgents say

BAGHDAD, Iraq – An insurgent group said Saturday it has killed a Japanese hostage it captured earlier this month, and suicide car bombers killed at least seven Iraqis in an attack near a U.S. and Iraqi military base close to the Syrian border.

The deaths were among at least two dozen reported during the last 24 hours in a continuing surge of violence this month. Nearly 700 Iraqis and more than 60 U.S. troops have been reported killed in May as insurgents – mainly Iraqi Sunni Muslims and foreign extremists – have carried out a wave of bombings, ambushes, assassinations and military-style assaults. The violence has been the worst since January, when insurgents tried unsuccessfully to scuttle Iraq’s elections.