At least 44 people were killed today in Iraq’s spiralling violence, including 20 soldiers whose bus was blasted by a roadside bomb.

Gunmen wearing commando uniforms of the Shiite-dominated Interior Ministry stormed an Iraqi security company that relied heavily on Sunni ex-military men from the Saddam Hussein regime and abducted 50 hostages.

Gunmen in camouflage uniforms stormed the offices of a private security company in Baghdad, Iraq, today and kidnapped as many as 50 employees, police reported.

In a string of near simultaneous attacks, gunmen attacked and killed eight policemen in Baghdad today, police said.