Four media workers recently arrested in Ethiopia's conflict-hit Tigray region were freed on Wednesday, a translator working for Agence France-Presse (AFP), who was part of the group being held, reported.
"All journalists and translators have been released without charges," Abebe Gebrehiwot Yihdego, deputy head of Tigray's interim administration, told Reuters.
The BBC confirmed the release of its reporter Girmay Gebru, of the broadcaster's Tigrinya language service, in a tweet.
"They let us out today. They didn't say anything about why they let us go. But they said they have decided to free us," the translator, Fitsum Berhane, told AFP.
Fitsum and Alula Akalu, a translator working for the Financial Times, were arrested on Saturday after three days of reporting on the conflict in Tigray.
The other two detainees were BBC journalist Girmay Gebru and Temrat Yemane, a local journalist.
Officials have not given any reason for the arrests and did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday about the decision to free the men.
Both AFP and the Financial Times had obtained permission from the Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority and the Ministry of Peace to work in Tigray, where media access has been tightly restricted since hostilities began in November.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner, has said the military campaign is targeting leaders of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the region's longtime ruling party.
However, while Abiy said in late November that military operations were "completed" after federal troops entered the regional capital Mekele, top TPLF officials remain on the run, and the fighting has continued.
Meanwhile, global concern is mounting amid reports of atrocities against civilians and fears of a spiraling humanitarian catastrophe.
The United States voiced concern on Tuesday over the arrests of the four media workers, saying the move was inconsistent with the government's commitment to allow the international press to operate in Tigray.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said authorities should "bring credible charges or release" them.
Fitsum told AFP on Wednesday that soldiers entered his home and accused him of supporting the TPLF.
"They were saying a lot of things about how I am a member of the TPLF and have been helping the party since the war started and giving them information," he said.
"But I denied all because I don't know what they are talking about."
