(CNN) The office of Mada Masr, one of the last independent news outlets in Egypt, was raided by security forces on Sunday, according to its journalists. Four of the website's staff have been detained.

A statement posted on Mada Masr's official Twitter account said the raid started at around 1:30 p.m. local time, when "plainclothes security forces entered the Mada Masr office by force."

"They immediately began confiscating everybody's laptops and phones. When asked who they were, they aggressively refused to answer." The journalists said they got their phones and laptops back just before 5 p.m. local time.

"Security forces left. Lina Attalah, Mohamed Hamama, and Rana Mamdouh have been taken to the prosecution, according to one of the men who entered our offices," the statement said.

Attalah is the news outlet's editor-in-chief, while Hamama and Mamdouh are journalists.

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