Tuesday, August 1 2006 17:47 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Baghdad: At least 44 people were killed today (Aug 1, 2006) in Iraq's spiralling violence, including 20 soldiers whose bus was blasted by a roadside bomb and 14 who perished in a car bomb attack in an upscale Baghdad neighbourhood. Ten other people died elsewhere in the country.

The military bus was carrying about 35 Iraqi soldiers when it was hit by the bomb early today in Ruwashyid village in northern Iraq, said a police captain who spoke on condition of anonymity. The area is near the industrial city of Beiji, 250 kilometres north of Baghdad.

The captain said 20 soldiers were killed and 13 were injured. A curfew was imposed in Beiji following the blast.

The bus, part of a convoy being escorted by US troops, was destroyed, according to witnesses. No US casualties were immediately reported.

In the Karradah neighbourhood of Baghdad, the bomb-laden car parked near a bank, exploded during the morning rush hour, killing at least 14 people and injuring 37, said police Lt Col Abbas Mohammed Salman.

The target was well chosen because Iraqi security forces draw their salaries from the bank on the first of every month.

"In other violence today, a car bomb targeting a police patrol killed one policeman and six civilians in northern Iraq," said an official.

A roadside bomb narrowly missed a car belonging to the Ministry of Electricity, killing one civilian and wounding another in Zayouna in eastern Baghdad. In Karma area, 40 kilometres west of Baghdad, two insurgents were killed when a roadside bomb they were planting on a highway detonated prematurely.