Anthony Shadid

Award-winning journalist Anthony Shadid has died while on a reporting assignment to Syria, his employer The New York Times says.

The exact circumstances for his death were not clear, but the paper said he apparently died of an asthma attack on Thursday.

The Times said its photographer Tyler Hicks, who was with Shadid, had carried his body across the border to Turkey. 

"Mr. Hicks said that Mr. Shadid, who had asthma and had carried medication with him, began to show symptoms as both of them were preparing to leave Syria on Thursday, and the symptoms escalated into what became a fatal attack," the paper said.

The two entered the country illegally from Turkey. Hicks said the deadly asthma attack was set off by his allergy to horses, as the two were assisted by "guides on horseback" as they were walking towards the border.

Shadid, an American of Lebanese descent, covered the Middle East extensively, for outlets including The Washington Post and The Associated Press.

He won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize twice for his Iraq reporting and several other awards.

In March last year, Shadid and two other Times journalists were held for a week by pro-government fighters in Libya after going there to report on the revolt against former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

"Anthony died as he lived - determined to bear witness to the transformation sweeping the Middle East and to testify to the suffering of people caught between government oppression and opposition forces," Jill Abramson, the executive editor of the Times, wrote in an email to staff.

Shadid was 43 and is survived by his wife and two children.