U.S. journalist Mona Eltahawy was freed in Cairo on Thursday morning, 12 hours after she was arrested, according to a post on the columnist’s Twitter feed. A second journalist, Jehane Noujaim, who was detained on Wednesday, remains in custody.

Eltahawy was detained for nearly twelve hours. Upon her release, she apparently tweeted that she had been sexually harassed. “Five or six surrounded me, groped and prodded my breasts, grabbed my genital area and I lost count how many hands tried to get into my trousers,” she wrote. She added: “The past 12 hrs were painful and surreal but I know I got off much easier than so many other Egyptians.”

Noujaim was detained Wednesday during clashes on Tahrir Square in Cairo, AP reported. Noujaim is an Egyptian American filmmaker who has won awards for her work, including the 2004 documentary “Control Room,” about Al-Jazeera, AP said.

“We welcome the release of Mona Eltahaway and urge the authorities to release Jehane Noujaim and any other journalists who may have been detained during the clashes,” said IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills. “We call for a full and impartial investigation into Eltahaway’s claims of sexual assault and again, we urge the authorities to ensure the safety of journalists reporting on the continuing unrest.”

The journalists’ detention came as protestors in Cairo and other Egyptian cities reportedly continued to clash with police. Casualties have reportedly been mounting, with those on the ground reporting the use of tear gas and rubber bullets; videos of police beating protestors have surfaced. According to the London-based Guardian newspaper, doctors have said that there have been more casualties in the past five days than in January.
On Saturday, the Egyptian Syndicate of Journalists said that two journalists had been detained by military police, while a further ten had been injured, Bikya Masr reported online. Other journalists had their equipment confiscated or broken, or had photos deleted.

Ahram Online reported that its reporter, Ahmed Feteha, “was robbed and beaten twice while covering a standoff between protesters and police in downtown Cairo”.

Al Masry Al Youm video journalist Ahmed Abdel Fattah was hit in the eye with a rubber bullet while covering clashes near Tahrir Square on Saturday, the newspaper reported on its English language website. He is recovering.

Further, the Egyptian Syndicate of Journalists condemned attacks in Alexandria against journalists from five media houses including the newspapers El-Akhbar, El-Shorouk, El-Tahrir and the MENA news agency, Ahram Online reported. The syndicate reportedly said that “one journalist was detained, forced to strip, blindfolded, and then beaten with a wooden stick for five hours. He was also verbally abused and robbed of money.”