U.S. officials confirmed on Wednesday that an American journalist was arrested on the Turkish border for violating the military zone on Aug. 6.

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby stated that officials from the consulate visited Lindsey Snell in the prison in the border province of Hatay on Aug. 26. "She was detained in Turkey. As I understand it she journeyed to Turkey from Syria," Kirby told reporters in Washington. "She is currently being held at a prison facility in Hatay province.

"What we understand is that she has been charged with violating a military zone, but I can't speak to her reasons for being in Syria and traveling there," he added.

Details about Snell's motives, her time in Syria and background are unclear. Snell's Twitter biography identifies her as an Istanbul-based video journalist who has contributed to several Western networks and news organizations including MSNBC, Vice News and ABC. She also has worked as a senior foreign correspondent and producer for Vocativ since March 2014, according to her LinkedIn page. On Facebook, she describes herself as hailing from Daytona Beach, Florida and says she graduated from the University of Florida and Fordham University's School of Law. She claims that she is a Muslim and wears a headscarf in most of her pictures, especially in those where she was clearly in Syria.

However, her motive for being in Syria and her experiences are unknown. Her last tweets were sent on Aug. 5, when she referred to having been imprisoned for 10 days by militants from the Al-Nusra Front before escaping with the aid of a "brave man on a motorcycle." In her most recent Facebook post on Aug. 5 she claimed that she was held in a cave prison by militants even though she was given permission to film in their territory in Syria, adding: "Because of my unique situation, I was able to convince my captors to give me the use of a phone...which ultimately let me plan my escape, but which also let me document much of my captivity in photos and video," she continued. Snell also added in her post: "I must apologize to my friends and colleagues for all the pain and worry this caused you. I love you all, and I appreciate every effort made to secure my release." She also wrote on her social media account: "A cave prison (the previous tenant of my cell had marked his days in residence in blood on the walls), masked villains, motorcycle escapes and disguises. I can't wait to share the details."

Although her social media accounts do not mention anything about her traveling to Turkey, she was detained by Turkish officials while trying to cross the border illegally. She has already been taken to court and taken into custody. Her trial in Turkey is still ongoing and Turkish officials are trying to find out her motive for trying to cross the border illegally.

Turkey has arrested 865 people since the start of 2016 in its fight against DAESH, and more than half of those were foreigners, Interior Minister Efkan Ala said in his remarks following a meeting with Ramil Usubov, Azerbaijan's Interior Minister on Wednesday.

Turkish officials place great importance on border security as people from Europe cross the Syrian and Iraqi border from Turkey to join the terror group DAESH. Moreover, Turkey is also on guard due to terrorist attacks that took place within or near its borders, killing hundreds of innocent people and military officials. To stop the passage to these countries and terrorist groups, the Ankara government has since launched a crackdown on the networks facilitating their passage. Since launching the crackdown, Turkey has detained a total of 5,803 people, of which about 2,200 were foreigners, the minister said. Ala also stated that police have taken 2,147 people, including 973 foreigners who are suspected to be affiliated with DAESH, into custody and arrested 865 so far this year. He said the important thing is to prevent these people from traveling to Turkey in the first place and that the responsibility for preventing this falls on the shoulders of Europe and other countries.