BEIRUT — A French photojournalist and a prominent American war correspondent working for a British newspaper were killed Wednesday as Syrian forces intensely shelled the opposition stronghold of Homs. President Bashar Assad’s regime also escalated attacks on rebel bases elsewhere, with helicopter gunships strafing areas in the northwest, activists said.
Weeks of barrages on the central city of Homs have failed to drive out opposition factions that include rebel soldiers who fled Assad’s forces. Hundreds have died in the siege.
“This tragic incident is another example of the shameless brutality of the Assad regime,” U.S. State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland said of the journalists killed.
France was outraged over the journalists killed.
“That’s enough now, the regime must go,” said French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
French spokesman Valerie Pecresse identified those killed as French photojournalist Remi Ochlik, 28, and American reporter Marie Colvin, who was working for Britain’s Sunday Times.
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