Iraqi authorities say gunmen stormed a new Iraqi satellite television station in eastern Baghdad early Thursday killing 11 employees. At least eight other people perished elsewhere in a series of attacks.

Sunni-Arab Shaabiya satellite television station employee sits next to body of his colleague at al-Kindi hospital, in Baghdad, October 12, 2006

The executive manager of the Shaabiya satellite channel said the masked raiders struck about seven in the morning, killing guards, technicians, and administrative workers.

Shaabiya is owned by the National Justice and Progress Party, a small secular party that contested the last two elections, but failed to win any seats in parliament.

The station suffered one of the deadliest attacks on journalists and broadcasters in Iraq, which has been exceptionally dangerous for the media.

Elsewhere in Baghdad, several bomb blasts took a toll.

This eyewitness says one bomb exploded, and a second detonated a short time later.

Analysts say terrorists frequently set off one explosion to attract a crowd of police, rescue workers and others, tending to the dead and injured. These rescuers are then sometimes caught by a second explosion

U.S. and Iraqi troops have been mounting a major security crackdown intended to curb these killings, but it has not yet stopped the tide of violence.