Three Spanish journalists believed kidnapped in Syria

The Observatory said running water was restored Tuesday in Aleppo after a cut of more than three weeks, apparently after an understanding between the regime and Al-Qaeda s affiliate in Syria, Al-Nusra Front.

The three men have been identified as Antonio Pampliega, Jose Manuel Lopez and Angel Sastre.

“They can not yet conclude that they have been kidnapped”, she said.

Lopez contributed photographs to AFP from Syria up to 2013, and has worked in various other war zones.

Spanish media reports the group are believed to have been kidnapped.

As stated by data on the website of the Madrid Press Association, Sastre has worked in various trouble spots around the world for Spanish television, radio and Press.

A further three Spanish journalists were taken in the Aleppo region in 2014 and released in March this year, after 194 days in captivity.

Militant extremist groups in the country, most notably the Islamic State, have been known to abduct Western journalists, ordeals that sometimes end in publicized beheading videos. Syria’s conflict, which began in 2011 with anti-government protests, has degenerated into a civil war that has killed more than 230,000 people and displaced millions.

Each was a freelance reporter who had been working in the city of Aleppo, in Syria’s north.

It has suffered devastating damage as each side tries to dislodge the other.