American journalist Lindsey Snell detained in Turkey for 'violating military zone'

An American journalist has been detained in Turkey and charged with 'violating a military zone'.

Lindsey Snell was stopped as she crossed the border from Syria into Turkey on August 7, NBC News reported.

The freelance journalist has covered the Middle East and North Africa for several years. According to her twitter profile, Ms Snell's work has appeared on ABC News, Discovery and Yahoo News among others.

Personnel from the U.S. Mission in Turkey were said to be dispatched to the Turkey-Syria border to support her safe exit from Syria but once in Turkey she was arrested by authorities.

In her last Facebook post two days earlier, Ms Snell claimed she had been kidnapped and then later released by a Syrian group known to have ties with al-Qaeda.

Her account of the story cannot be verified.

State Department spokesman John Kirby was quoted by NBC News as saying: "(Ms Snell) is currently being held in a prison facility in Hatay province.

"Consular officers from the consulate office in Adana visited Ms Snell most recently on the 26 August and are providing all possible consular assistance."

The governor of the Turkish province Hatay, Ercan Topaca, told the state-run Anadolu agency: "A U.S. journalist was captured while she was trying to cross the border illegally. She was taken to court and remanded.

"The trial phase is ongoing. For now, we do not know if she is a spy or not."