Two more French journalists are being held by armed groups in Syria, the Foreign Ministry announced Wednesday, revealing that reporter Nicolas Henin and photographer Pierre Torres had been kidnapped in June, dpa reported.
Henin was working for Le Point news magazine and Franco-German channel Arte and Torres preparing to cover municipal elections in the northern city of Raqqa when they were abducted on June 22, the ministry said in a statement.
"To respect their families' wishes the announcement of their kidnapping was deferred and the information kept confidential until now," foreign affairs spokesman Philippe Lalliot said.
The kidnapping took place two weeks after that of Europe 1 radio reporter Didier Francois and photographer Edouard Elias, who were snatched by armed men on June 6 near the northern city of Aleppo.
"All the state's resources are mobilized to obtain their release," the ministry said.
Sixteen foreign journalists and more than 60 Syrian journalists and citizen-journalists are currently detained, abducted or missing in Syria, media rights group Reporters without Borders said on September 24. It was not clear whether that figure included Torres and Henin.