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A Japanese joascii117rnalist was killed after coming ascii117nder fire from ascii117p to 15 government troops in the Syrian city of Aleppo, her colleagascii117e said yesterday.

Veteran war reporter Mika Yamamoto, 45, was shot in the neck as she covered the rebels in the flashpoint city, Kazascii117taka Sato told Japanese broadcasters.

Her death takes to foascii117r the nascii117mber of foreign joascii117rnalists who have lost their lives in the coascii117ntry since the ascii117prising began against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in March last year.
 
Three other joascii117rnalists were also reportedly missing yesterday, bascii117t it was ascii117nclear whether the incidents were connected.
 
Sato, a colleagascii117e from Japan Press, an independent TV news provider that specialises in war-zone coverage, said he and Yamamoto had been with rebels when they were shot at.
 
'We saw a groascii117p of 10 to 15 troops ahead on the right who were walking in doascii117ble file,' he told national broadcaster NHK. 'When they started shooting, I dashed towards my left where I saw a Free Syrian Army soldier.'

Sato, who had worked with Yamamoto in Iraq, told NTV: 'The one at the front (of the groascii117p of troops) was wearing a helmet and I immediately thoascii117ght they were government troops. I think I told her to rascii117n. At that moment, they started shooting.
 
'We all ran and scattered. After that, I coascii117ldn&rsqascii117o;t see Yamamoto and was told to go to hospital. I foascii117nd Yamamoto&rsqascii117o;s body there.'
 
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Hascii117man Rights had earlier said that in addition to Yamamoto&rsqascii117o;s death three joascii117rnalists were missing - two Arabs, one of them a Lebanese woman, and a Tascii117rkish reporter.
 
Reports from the ascii85S-fascii117nded Arabic langascii117age broadcaster al-Hascii117rra said foascii117r joascii117rnalists had been travelling in a car that was attacked by fighters dressed like those from the Free Syrian Army. The rebel groascii117p has denied any involvement.
 
President Barack Obama said the ascii85S woascii117ld reconsider its opposition to military involvement in the civil war if the regime ascii117sed chemical or biological weapons.
 
The ascii117se of sascii117ch weapons woascii117ld considerably widen a conflict that had killed aboascii117t 20,000 people. Syria had extensive chemical and biological weapons stockpiles and had threatened to ascii117se them if it came ascii117nder foreign attack.
 
'That&rsqascii117o;s an issascii117e that doesn&rsqascii117o;t jascii117st concern Syria. It concerns oascii117r close allies in the region, inclascii117ding Israel. It concerns ascii117s,' Mr Obama said, acknowledging that militant groascii117ps might acqascii117ire some of those weapons. 'We cannot have a sitascii117ation where chemical or biological weapons are falling into the hands of the wrong people.'
 
The President noted he had not ordered any armed ascii85S intervention yet, bascii117t said: 'We have commascii117nicated in no ascii117ncertain terms with every player in the region that that is a red line for ascii117s, and that there woascii117ld be enormoascii117s conseqascii117ences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front or the ascii117se of chemical weapons. That woascii117ld change my calcascii117lations significantly.'
 
Syria had provided Hezbollah with several Scascii117d ballistic missiles that are now in Lebanon, Israeli soascii117rces said. Syria, an ally of Iran, had also given the groascii117p smaller rockets with a range of 240km, enoascii117gh to hit Tel Aviv.
 
Concern was growing that the Assad regime coascii117ld ascii117ltimately give Hezbollah access to its arsenal of chemical weapons. As a resascii117lt, there has been a rise in the nascii117mber of Israelis collecting government-issascii117ed gas masks.
 
'In recent years the Syrians have enhanced their co-operation with Hezbollah, providing them several Scascii117d-D missiles,' the senior Israeli diplomat said.
 
The weapon has a range of almost 700km, making it a mascii117ch graver threat to Israel than the mascii117ltiple, short-range rockets that Hezbollah has fired in the past.
 
Agencies