Marie Colvin, Legendary War Reporter, Killed in Syrian Shelling Attack

Respected American war reporter Marie Colvin, who covered conflicts from Sri Lanka to Syria and stood up for the importance of independent journalism, has been killed in a targeted shelling attack by government forces in the besieged Syrian city of Homs.

The Huffington Post reports that Colvin, from Oyster Bay, New York, sent her last dispatch from the troubled region hours before her death, telling CNN’s Anderson Cooper the Syrian army was “simply shelling a city of cold, starving civilians.”

“It’s a complete and utter lie that they are only going after terrorists,” the 55-year-old journalist told Cooper. “There are no military targets here.

Watch one of journalist Marie Colvin‘s last reports from Syria below (possibly NSFW due to graphic content):

French photographer Remi Ochlik was also killed in the attack and at least two other Western journalists were injured in barrages that claimed at least 19 lives.

“This tragic incident is another example of the shameless brutality of the Assad regime.” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said of the journalists killed.

“That’s enough now, the regime must go,” said French President Nicolas Sarkozy after his government confirmed the two deaths.

Easily recognizable for her black eye patch, Colvin was known for focusing on the plight of women and children in wartime. In an interview with the BBC on Tuesday, she vividly recounted the death of an infant in Syria.

“I watched a little baby die today,” she said. “Absolutely horrific, a 2-year old child had been hit. They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the left chest and the doctor said ‘I can’t do anything.'”

Colvin worked in the Balkans, where she went on patrol with the Kosovo Liberation Army as it engaged Serb military forces. She worked in Chechnya, where she was repeatedly attacked by Russian jets while reporting on Chechen rebels. She also covered the conflict in East Timor after its people voted for independence.

She was outspoken in her defense of independent journalism, and a fervent advocate for the cause of war reporting. During a tribute service at Fleet Street’s St. Bride’s Church in November 2010, she offered a stirring appeal to media executives, pressing the case to continue investing in conflict zone reportage.

“Our mission is to report these horrors of war with accuracy and without prejudice,” she said. “We always have to ask ourselves whether the level of risk is worth the story. What is bravery, and what is bravado?

“Journalists covering combat shoulder great responsibilities and face difficult choices. Sometimes they pay the ultimate price.”

RIP Marie Colvin