Journalists working for Mada Masr news website were released on Sunday hours after their arrest earlier in the day, including editor-in-chief Lina Attallah, according to the journalists' lawyers.

Attallah and journalists Rana Mamdouh and Mohamed Hamma were arrested at the Mada Masr office in Cairo and detained for several hours at Dokki Police Station.

Early on Sunday, Mada Masr journalists said that plain-clothed police raided the office of the independent news outlet in Dokki.

The brief detention of Attallah, Hamma and Mamdouh came 24 hours after the arrest of Mada Masr editor Shady Zalat, who was also released Sunday afternoon.

The reason behind the arrests is not yet clear.