Ever since the uprising in eastern Libya spiraled into nationwide armed conflict, reporters there have been abducted, assaulted and killed by forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi.

Among them, four foreign journalists—reporters Clare Morgana Gillis and James Wright Foley, and photographers Anton Lazarus Hammerl and Manuel Varela de Seijas Brabo—have been in Qaddafi's custody since early last week. According to The Washington Post, three of them have been spotted in a "detention camp" somewhere in Tripoli.

James Bennet, editor of The Atlantic, for which Gillis was reporting, said yesterday, "We're hoping they're released soon, but there hasn't been an update for two days." Also missing is American freelancer Matthew VanDyke, who has not been heard from since mid-March.

For a better idea of the clearly coordinated campaign against journalists, check out the Committee to Protect Journalists' disturbing tally of attacks on the press in Libya over the past month.

[Photo via AP]