Following the deadly shelling of a temporary media centre in the besieged Syrian city of Homs which killed Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik on 22 February 2012, a number of foreign journalists were trapped in the city with shelling and street fighting continuing unabated.

French journalist Edith Bouvier and British photographer Paul Conroy were both injured in the legs during the blast while Panos photographer William Daniels and a number of other journalists escaped unscathed.

Edith Bouvier and William Daniels appealed to the French government to put pressure on the regime in Damascus to allow them to be transferred out of the country for treatment since basic medical supplies, food and water are becoming dangerously scarce.

Paul Conroy made a separate appeal to the British government for assistance from the place where he is being treated by local doctors.

Paul Conroy and Javier Espinosa were evacuated over the course of the week following the mortar attack. Edith and William stayed behind due to Edith’s serious medical condition but were finally smuggled out of Homs and into neighbouring Lebanon on 1 March 2012 with the help of Syrian volunteers.

Our thoughts are with the people left behind in the embattled city and those who have lost their lives over the past months of fighting. Our intense gratitude goes out to those courageous people who helped all the foreign journalists to get back home.