Activists in the city said a group of journalists were in Homs when explosions occurred.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Gilles Jacquier, a reporter for France 2 TV, was killed in an attack while covering violence in the restive city.
Jacquier was on a rare Western reporting trip authorized by Syria’s embattled government amid a 10-month uprising against the regime of President Bashar Assad. Another France-2 reporter was uninjured.
The Netherlands' Foreign Ministry said a Dutch freelance journalist was also injured in the attack.
News director Thierry Thullier of France Televisions, the parent station of France-2, told French TV BFM that Jacquier appeared to have been killed by a mortar or rocket as part of a series of attacks.
It was the first known instance of a Western journalist dying in Syria amid the unrest. Syrian authorities have denied many efforts by Western journalists to enter the country since the uprising began.
Foreign Minister Juppe, in a statement, said Jacquier called the attack an “odious act” and demanded an investigation into the killing.
“It’s up to Syrian authorities to ensure the security of international journalists on their territory, and to protect this fundamental liberty which is the freedom of information.”
The UN estimates more than 5,000 people have been killed in the uprising.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Wednesday reported fresh violence in Syria. The group said soldiers and army defectors were fighting in central Hama province. The full casualty count was unclear.
