A reporter and a photographer working for a leading British newspaper have been badly beaten up in captivity by a rebel gang in war-torn Syria. Anthony Loyd and Jack Hill of The Times, were returning to Turkey from Aleppo when they were seized on Wednesday.
They were reportedly freed after members of the Islamic Front, a coalition of rebel groups, intervened. Dozens of journalists have been killed, injured or kidnapped in Syria since the conflict began in 2011.
The men had been on a three-day trip to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, which has come under fierce aerial bombardment as government forces try to end a long-standing stalemate against the rebels in the city.
They were on their way back to the Turkish border when their car was intercepted and they were taken to a warehouse in a nearby town. Loyd was shot twice in the legs, and both men were badly beaten to stop them trying to escape, the Times reported.
Syria has become one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists. More than 60 have been killed in the country since the beginning of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in March, 2011.
The news broke as foreign ministers from 11 Western and Arab nations, led by United States Secretary of State John Kerry, flew in to London for a meeting to discuss new ways of supporting the Syrian opposition. The Friends of Syria group will also discuss the country's dire humanitarian situation. Syria's three-year conflict has left some 150,000 people dead.
