A Spanish reporter and a freelance photographer are being held hostage in Syria by a group linked to Al Qaeda Spanish newspaper El Mundo said today.

El Mundo’s veteran reporter Javier Espinosa and freelance photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova were seized on 16 September.

The two men were kidnapped along with four members of the Free Syrian Army rebel group at the Tal Abyad checkpoint in the northern province of Raqqa as they were trying to leave the country, after spending two weeks reporting on the aftermath of the civil war in the province of Deir Ezzor, El Mundo reported today. The Syrians were later released.