American, French journalists killed in Syria

French photographer Remi Ochlik and Sunday Times in London of journalist Marie Colvin.

/ AP

Two Western journalists, including veteran American reporter Marie Colvin, were killed in intense shelling by President Bashar Assad's regime in the central town of Homs on Wednesday, according to Syrian activists and the French government.

Activists said both were killed in the shelling of a makeshift media center in the hard-hit neighborhood of Baba Amr early Wednesday morning.

The journalists were identified as veteran American reporter Marie Colvin, who works for The Sunday Times of Britain, and French photojournalist Remi Ochlik. Both had been working on the front lines of uprisings in the Arab world for months. Their identities were confirmed by the French government Wednesday morning, but CBS News has not independently confirmed Colvin's death.

The latest deaths spurred international condemnation and intensified pressure on Assad to step down and end the violence.

"This tragic incident is another example of the shameless brutality of the Assad regime," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

"That's enough now, the regime must go," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.

Colvin, who lost an eye to a grenade covering Sri Lanka's civil war years ago, had given a harrowing telephone interview to BBC radio from Homs just days before her death. Describing the damage caused by a near-constant barrage of artillery from state security forces, Colvin recounted watching a toddler die after being wounded by shrapnel.

Marie Colvin focused reporting on women, children

Just Tuesday, Colvin spoke with CNN's Anderson Cooper by phone about the child's death, saying "that baby probably will move more people to think, 'What is going on and why is no one stopping this murder in Homs that is happening every day?'"

Colvin was accustomed to covering violent uprisings, and she lent her insight as a first-hand witness to ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's crackdown on opposition protesters to CBS News in an interview almost exactly one year ago (click for video).

John Witherow, editor of The Sunday Times, said in a statement that Colvin "believed profoundly that reporting could curtail the excesses of brutal regimes and make the international community take notice."

The bodies of Colvin and Ochlik were removed from the rubble and were taken to a field clinic as efforts to return them home were under way.

Opposition members said three other Western journalists were wounded in the shelling of the makeshift media center - French reporter Edith Bouvier and British photographers Paul Conroy and William Daniels. Bouvier and Conroy were treated for leg wounds. Daniels' injuries were minor. At least 13 were reported dead in Wednesday's shelling.

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The ferocity of the ongoing bombardment of Baba Amr can be seen in numerous videos posted by opposition activists on Youtube. Click the player below for an example of such video, the authenticity of which cannot be independently verified by CBS News as all independent reporting in Syria has been banned by the Assad regime.

News of the journalists' deaths comes on the heels of reports that a prominent Syrian opposition activist and video blogger, Rami al-Said, whose horrific images of the shelling in the Baba Amr have spread across social networks in recent weeks, was also killed in the shelling.

Activists say at least 45 people were killed by the bombardment in Homs on Tuesday alone.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[FactNotRhetoric]

The so called Activists, that these reporters were trying to glorify, are SAUDI PAID AL-QAEDA TERRORISTS AND SAUDI PAID MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD TERRORISTS.

These Terrorists are paid to overthrow a bad Syrian Dictator, to replace him with a much worse, Genocidal, Hitler-Like, Saudi Dictator.

Now the Saudi Dictator does not want to spend his money, or his troops, overthrowing these countries so he wants Americans to sacrifice Thousands more American Soldiers lives, $Trillions more BORROWED American Dollars to overthrow and kill close to a million innocent Middle Eastern Civilians to hand these countries over to the Hitler-Like Saudi Dictator.

As long as the Syrians leave "Saudi written Sharia Law" in their constitution, they can never be a DEMOCRACY or feel freedom. "Saudi written Sharia Law in the constitution of any country turns any country from a DEMOCRACY INTO A SAUDI DICTATORSHIP.

Saudi Puppet Obama left "Saudi written Sharia Law" in the constitutions of Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Kenya and Yemen. These were all presents of whole countries to the Saudi Dictator.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH - STOP KILLING AMERICANS AND INNOCENT MIDDLE EASTERN CITIZENS TO HAND WHOLE COUNTRIES OVER TO THE HITLER-LIKE, SAUDI DICTATOR.

[bonacar]

Actually, the house they were in WAS targeted by Syrian forces as it was the media center. Syria has the technical ability to detect where they were transmitting from and it also has the ability to shell with accuracy. If you had been watching her broadcasts and Al Jazeera, you would know why she was a threat to Syrian government. They should not have been staying together at that house, but should have moved around. I am so sad about Ms. Colvin's death. She was a great reporter. My condolences to her family and friends.

[bileven]

Yeah, cuz finding minmal excuses to lock them away is saved for only those unable to generate sympathies against them? Kind of goes against any sort of reasoning, unless they wanted to generate hostility against themselves. The normal tactic is to grab "barganing chips" to keep other Nations negotiating for their release... Well within the standard MO of these situations. Fake charges with no expectation of court date, and death sentence with non-public execution is well within their standard practice.

Something stinks and it's not the trash burning...

[myopinionpal]

journalists often put themselves in harms way just to get a story, they stand on beaches during hurricanes with winds over 100 mph,They drive around on slick roads to let you know that it snowed the night before,they go into war zones knowing full well bullets are flying all over the place I guess they must be super human.

[bileven]

Thrill seekers abound. Some jump buses, others chase storms... others still get addicted to the adrenaline rush from being in the thick of a fight, but have reasons why not to pick up a gun and join the fight.

Not shunning the work they do, just know several of those people, and they couldn't do anything else... Too boring and tedious.

[omnibus66]

We need to make up some stuff about Syria, like they're developing nuclear weapons, or they have stockpiles of WMD. Then we could show lots of pictures of mushroom clouds on TV, and have our UN ambassador tell some whoppers. Then it could be "shock and awe" all over again. Hallelujah!

[joeyjr]

Is this how are schools teach our kids today "journos".

[sepa2]

she was not in the front line when western back humanitarian mission was killing innocents and children in Libya

[RichZubaty]

That's enough. This regime must go. What's taking so long? They don't have oil?

[obbop]

She died doing what she enjoyed;

Having jagged hunks of debris explosion-caused/created, enter her body and via internal damage render it unable to continue operating.

Or should that oft-used trite opening phrase she enjoyed what she was doing preceding her death?

I know. Work on my political correctness so that the HUGE mass of emotion-laden ill- and uneducated bleating human sheep of the planet will find my thought processes acceptable to them.

[hugog2773]

My sentiments exactly...Wake up & smell the corpses everybody!!! the world is going to HELL in a hand basket!!!If we don't wake up &get out of our protective bubble we'll go the way of the DO-DO bird!!!Sometimes reality sucks.

[cbsnews_viewer]

Journalism in "hot" war zones is dangerous with a capital "D". Nothing pretty about warfare. Artillery is made by humans to kill other humans. Anyone remember the spectators at a Nevada airshow?
You can delude yourself and think it always happens to somebody else. The facts of raw science wins over hopeful thinking.
Politically this is a bad situation. It reminds me of the Shi'ite revolts against Saddam Hussein after the first gulf war.

[jjoe57]

Americans who value freedom of the press should be saddened by the loss of these courageous journalists, whatever their nationality and whoever they work for. If journalists weren't there in harm's way, we would never know what is going on in Syria.

[bileven]

Odd you should say that, considering they still will only release what info provides sympathy for the cause. Ignoring anything that may otherwise turn sympathies away. Denial of anything proving purpose of the opposition.

That has been the goal of the media for the last 50 years, in terms of the Middle East. It's ironic that it happened days after an event that would have stood alone to generate sympathy...