Two British journalists have been shot and beaten by foreign-backed militants operating inside Syria.
They were abducted while covering the unrest in the country and are reportedly recovering in Turkey.
Reporter for UK-based The Times newspaper, Anthony Loyd was recovering Thursday in hospital in Turkey after being shot twice in the leg while held captive by anti-government militants, and photographer Jack Hill suffered a severe beating after attempting to escape.
The two were eventually freed on the orders of a local militant commander, and managed to cross the border into Turkey on Wednesday after receiving treatment in a Syrian hospital, according to the daily.
The pair, according to the report, had spent several days reporting from the war-ravaged city of Aleppo and were returning to the Turkish border early Wednesday when they were kidnapped by armed groups.
They were around ten miles from the border when the vehicle they were travelling in was forced to the side of the road by two cars, the Times said.
Loyd was bound to the back seat of a car while Hill and a local guide were placed in the trunk of the car before being driven to a warehouse in the town of Tall Rifat.
Hill and the guide identified their abductors as the opposition-linked elements entrusted with their safe passage to the border, and burst out of the car’s trunk before overpowering a guard, the daily reported.
Hill was then recaptured and severely beaten while Loyd was shot in the legs to prevent him from escaping.
According to The Times, a commander from a militant group called “the Islamic Front,” which claims to be fighting against al-Qaeda-linked militants in the country, turned up to the warehouse and demanded the release of the three hostages.
Loyd, Hill and the guide crossed the border into Turkey late Wednesday after receiving treatment for their wounds, the daily added.
