Up to 50 employees of various Baghdad transport companies have been abducted by gunmen posing as Iraqi police officers.
The apparently co-ordinated operation was carried out along a Baghdad street that is home to several companies offering transport to Syria and Jordan.
The motive for the abductions remains unclear but businesses have been repeatedly hit by kidnappers seeking ransoms in the past.
The incident comes a day after Iraqi leaders failed to agree on nominees for the interior and defence ministries.
The posts were left vacant when the government was sworn in on 20 May
Nominations for the positions had been expected to be presented to parliament yesterday, but a deal fell through and the assembly session was postponed, dealing a blow to new Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
Four die in Baquba attacks
Meanwhile, four people were killed in incidents in Baquba today, and two public servants were killed in the capital, while attacks in Mosul and Kirkuk left two policemen dead and two injured.
Meanwhile in Baghdad, the trial of Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants on charges of crimes against humanity has been adjourned until next week.
Only two defence witnesses testified in today's session, on behalf of Ali Dayih Ali, a minor Baathist official during the time of the Dujail incident in which 148 people were executed.
The trial will resume on 12 June.
