Iraq gunmen hit TV station, kill at least 8

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Gunmen in police cars and police uniforms stormed the offices of an Iraqi satellite television channel in Baghdad on Thursday and shot or slit the throats of all inside, killing at least eight people in the deadliest attack on journalists in Iraq, according to witnesses and the Interior Ministry.

Many of those killed in the 7 a.m. raid on al-Shaabiya TV were shot as they lay sleeping in their beds at the station. Neighbors said they heard no gunfire, leading the station's executive director, Hassan Kamil, to tell state-allied al-Iraqiya television that he believed silencers had been used.

"The killing police left the scene after killing those Iraqis," said Saad Saleem, 43, a teacher who lives near the house where the station was located. Gesturing at police who responded to cordon off the station after the killings, Saleem said: "These police arrived only later. For us, Iraqis, we cannot tell the difference."

The attackers killed two guards outside, then attacked the workers inside, killing six.

The Interior Ministry said Thursday that the bodies of another 42 men and boys were found dumped around Baghdad in the previous 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Britain's new army chief called Thursday for a withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, warning that the military's presence there only exacerbates security problems.

Gen. Richard Dannatt described British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Iraq policies as "naive," declaring that while Iraqis might have welcomed coalition forces following the ouster of Saddam Hussein, the goodwill has since evaporated after years of violence.

The British military should "get ourselves out sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems," Dannatt said in an interview with the Daily Mail.

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.