Journalists die amid Syrian clashes

Two journalists covering the war in Syria have died in two regions long engulfed in battle, CNN reports.

A longtime globe-trotting war reporter and "battlefield junkie" who once had been a mercenary fighter in Africa has been killed in the conflict-ravaged city of Aleppo, the French presidential palace confirmed Friday.

Al Jazeera Media Network announced that a sniper had killed Mohamed Al-Massalma, a freelance correspondent in Syria.

The 33-year-old Syrian journalist, who used the pseudonym Mohamed Al-Hoorani, was struck by three bullets while covering fighting at the front lines in the town of Busra Al-Harir in the countryside of Daraa, the network said in a statement.

Aleppo, Syria's most populous city located in the north, has been devastated by fighting between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebel fighters.

France mourned Debay on Friday.

"The President of the Republic, speaking on behalf of France, expresses his deep emotion at the death of Yves Debay, French journalist killed in Aleppo, Syria while he was reporting," the palace said.