A Spanish journalist kidnapped by militants from a breakaway al-Qaida group in Syria crossed the border into Turkey on Sunday, his newspaper reported.

The news of the reporter's freedom came as his captors, fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, fled areas near the Turkish border, leaving behind at least two mass graves, with one containing 17 bodies, activists said.

The fighters left towns north of Aleppo, including Azaz near the Turkish border, activists said.

As the Islamic State fighters withdrew, residents found at least two mass graves in their wake, Syrian activists said. It appeared the dead were Syrian rebels belonging to rival brigades or activists, Abu Raed said.

Both activists said residents would never allow Islamic State fighters to return.

Government airstrikes killed at least 13 people in a northwestern border town, activists said.

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