American Journalist Detained in Turkey, State Dept. Says

ISTANBUL (TheBlaze/AP) -- 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. In her last Facebook post, Snell said that militants held her in a cave prison while she was in Syria.

I must apologize to my friends and colleagues for all the pain and worry this caused you. I love you all, and I appreciate every effort made to secure my release.

Because of my unique situation, I was able to convince my captors to give me the use of a phone...which ultimately let me plan my escape, but which also let me document much of my captivity in photos and videos.

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.

Snell's work has also appeared on VICE, ABC News, Discovery, Amnesty International, Vocativ, Yahoo News, IRIN and the New Arab, according to her Twitter biography.

Turkish officials have provided no update on her case.

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