BAGHDAD: A senior Iraqi journalist was killed on Thursday when a suicide truck bomb exploded outside a television channel's headquarters, the leading Sunni political party that owns the network said.

“The Baghdad TV headquarters was targeted by a cowardly car bomb attack followed by a gun attack, killing deputy bureau chief the journalist Thaer Ahmed Jabr,” the Iraqi Islamic Party said in a statement. Another 12 employees of the 24-hour television channel were wounded, some of them seriously, it added.

An Iraqi security official had said earlier that 10 Baghdad TV employees were wounded when a suicide bomber blew up a dump truck outside its offices in the capital's western Al-Jamiyah district.

“Since its establishment, the channel has been committed to a moderate national line and has always defended Iraqi citizens, regardless of their religious affiliation,” the Islamic Party added.--AFP