A Syrian journalist who reports for international agencies is arrested by Turkish-backed authorities

A local journalist in rebel-held northwestern Syria who works with international news agencies was arrested by Turkish-backed authorities, his wife and rights groups said Tuesday.

Journalists and activists called Bakr Qassim’s arrest part of an ongoing crackdown on them. Local authorities did not immediately comment.

Qassim, who has reported and taken photos for French news agency Agence France-Presse and Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency, was arrested Monday afternoon in al-Bab city in northern Aleppo province as he and his wife finished work.

Britain-based opposition monitor The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said he was dragged and beaten while asking the reason for his arrest. It said he was presented with “a number of charges, including preparing press reports for several parties.”