NAIROBI (Reuters] – Ethiopian authorities arrested more than 70 drivers for their work with United Nations. The internal U.N. Email seen by Reuters was among reports that ethnic Tigrayans were being widely detained.

It was unclear what the ethnicity of these drivers is. According to a U.N. spokesperson, at most 16 U.N. personnel and dependents had been taken into custody in Addis Ababa on Tuesday. According to the email, drivers in custody were also included among those staff detained.

According to a U.N. spokesperson, “We confirm that 72 drivers outsourced by WFP (World Food Programme), have been held in Semera,” referring specifically to Semera, the capital of the northeastern region Afar.

“We’re liaising closely with Ethiopia’s Government to determine the causes of their detention.”

Legesse Tulu, the government spokesperson, and Dina Mufti (the foreign affairs minister spokesperson) did not respond immediately to requests for comment about the driver detention.

A U.N. spokesperson said that the organization was looking into Tuesday’s arrest of U.N. contractors, such as drivers.

According to the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission’s head, hundreds of Tigrayans were reported in their capital arrest.

According to police, ethnically motivated arrests were not made and they only targeted supporters of Tigrayan rebel forces who are fighting against the central government.

Last year, war broke out between the federal government (TPLF) and Tigray People’s Liberation Front(TFPLF), which used to be the dominant coalition ruling the country.