A journalist and a photographer from The Times newspaper were attacked and wounded by a rebel group as they attempted to travel to the city of Aleppo in northern Syria.

Anthony Loyd and Jack Hill were travelling from the Turkish border to Aleppo on Wednesday when their car was ambushed. Loyd was shot twice in the legs and the two reporters and their fixer were badly beaten in an attempt to prevent theme escaping from the warehouse where they were being kept.

The journalists reportedly recognised their captors as the same people charged with providing them safe passage to Aleppo.

They were eventually freed after members of the coalition rebel group the Islamic Front intervened, and Loyd was treated in a local hospital before the they returned to Turkey

Syria is one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists, with more than 60 killed and many more kidnapped during the three-year civil war. Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin was killed during the bombardment of Homs by government forces in 2012.

Millions have been forced to flee Syria since the uprising against President Bashal al-Assad began in April 2011, with 150,000 people reportedly killed in the bloody conflict, and 5,000 more dying every month.