Temesgen Desalegn, editor-in-chief of the Amharic-language magazine Fitih, was arrested Thursday morning by plainclothes security forces at his office in the capital Addis Ababa, his colleague Misgan Zinabu told AFP.

"They first took Temesgen to a local police station ... Security forces then moved him to a secret location," he said, adding that his home was also searched and magazines, hard drives and a camera seized.

Another journalist and YouTuber, Yaysewe Shimelis, was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home in Addis Ababa, his former colleague Bekal Alamirew told AFP.

“He is accused by the police of incitement to violence through his work,” he said, indicating that the former TV host appeared in court on Friday.

The arrests come a week after two news YouTube channels, Nisir International Broadcasting Corporation and Ashara, announced that their studios in the northern Amhara region had been raided and some employees arrested.

Regional authorities said more than 4,000 people were arrested as part of an anti-crime operation.

But several press defense organizations claim that media and journalists are also targeted, in Amhara and elsewhere in the country.

Nisir International Broadcasting Corporation said four of its employees - journalists and administrative staff - were arrested and equipment seized in the regional capital Bahir Dar.

The fate of two other of its journalists remains unknown.

Ashara said five of its employees were arrested during a raid on its premises in Bahir Dar.

TV host Solomon Shumye, who has a YouTube show, was also arrested in Addis Ababa last week and charged with inciting violence, his sister Tigist Shumye said.

These arrests are causing international concern.

The US State Department on Tuesday expressed alarm at "narrowing space for freedom of expression and independent media in Ethiopia".

The Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders called for the immediate release of the detained journalists and asked the authorities to stop harassing the press.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, an agency attached to the Ethiopian government, has also called for their release.

“The arrest of media personnel is particularly alarming...and its repercussions extend beyond media space and freedom of expression,” media chief Daniel Bekele said in a statement on Friday.

The Amhara authorities have supported Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the federal army in the war waged since November 2020 against the neighboring region of Tigray.

But divisions have since emerged over the handling of the conflict.

© 2022 AFP