Journalists Killed in 2012 - Motive Confirmed: Marie Colvin

The Sunday Times
February 22, 2012, in Homs, Syria

Colvin, an acclaimed international reporter, and French photojournalist Rémi Ochlik were killed when their makeshift press center in Homs was struck during shelling of the city by Syrian forces, news reports said. The U.S.-born Colvin was reporting on the Syrian conflict for The Sunday Times. The central city was under the 19th consecutive day of intense bombardment by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

At least three other journalists were reported injured. Paul Conroy, a Sunday Times photographer, and Edith Bouvier, a reporter for Le Figaro, suffered leg wounds in the strike, news reports said. William Daniels, another photographer for The Sunday Times, was slightly injured, according to news reports.

By controlling local news reports and expelling or denying entry to dozens of international journalists, the Syrian government had sought to impose a blackout on independent news coverage after the country's uprising began in early 2011. Despite extremely high risk, international journalists smuggled themselves into Syria to cover the conflict. In her last article for the Times, Colvin wrote that like many other international journalists, she had sneaked into Homs along a smuggler's route.

Colvin, 55, was considered one of the world's pre-eminent international journalists. She lost an eye covering the Sri Lankan civil war a decade earlier, one of numerous dangerous assignments from the Balkans to Chechnya that she had covered during her distinguished career.