Two Western journalists, one American and one French, were killed early Wednesday as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad pursued a deadly bombardment of the central city of Homs, according to activists and officials.

 

 Valérie Pécresse, the French government spokeswoman, identified the dead as Marie Colvin, an American reporter working for The Sunday Times of London, and Rémi Ochlik, a French photographer.

The deaths were reported less than a week after Anthony Shadid, a correspondent for The New York Times, died last Thursday of an apparent asthma attack on his way back to Turkey after spending nearly a week reporting covertly inside Syria.