In a continuing clampdown on Christians in Eritrea, at least 68 Protestant evangelicals and Orthodox renewal movement church members were detained last month in three round-up operations, according to US-based Compass Direct News, writes Ellen Teague.

In the northern town of Keren, eight government workers were taken in what is thought to be the first arrest of government staff solely for their religious beliefs. Interrogations have reportedly focused on securing names of leading members of Medhane Alem, a renewal movement within the Coptic Orthodox Church. In the southern city of Assab, 25 Christians were arrested. At the national Sawa Military Centre, 35 student conscripts were jailed and Bibles burned publicly after Christian material was found.

Eritrea's population is roughly equally divided between Christianity and Islam. In 2002 the Government ordered the closure of churches not affiliated with the Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Lutheran denominations, rendering other Christian activity illegal. Independent Protestant churches and the renewal movement of the Orthodox Church cannot operate openly. About 2,000 Christians are currently imprisoned without trial.