American detained after crossing from Syria into Turkey

ISTANBUL – The U.S. State Department has confirmed that an American woman is being held in a Turkish prison and says consular officers are providing all possible assistance.

In response to questions at a briefing in Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby said Lindsey Snell was detained Aug. 7. U.S. officials understand she has been charged with violating a military zone.

Turkey’s state-run news agency, Anadolu, reported last month that Snell was a journalist who was arrested while trying to cross the border from Syria illegally. Kirby said it wasn’t clear why she was in Syria.

Snell’s Twitter biography says she is a video journalist. NBC News said Wednesday that her reporting on Syria and Iraq appeared on MSNBC in 2014 and 2015.

Turkish officials have provided no update on her case.

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