(WASHINGTON) - The US State Department on Thursday condemned the crackdown on media and demonstrators in Belarus, saying it again showed the government there is a "brutal, authoritarian dictatorship."

"We condemn today's crackdown on independent media in Belarus, during which some 30 independent journalists in 12 cities were detained without legitimate cause," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement.

Belarussian security services on Thursday raided the offices and homes of journalists working for media funded by the European Union and the United States, officials and journalists said.

It also condemned the "violent breakup of peaceful demonstrations in Minsk" on Tuesday.

President Alexander Lukashenko's regime has "again shown itself as a brutal, authoritarian dictatorship that blatantly ignores human rights and fundamental freedoms," it said.

"We call on the Belarus authorities to release immediately all of those who have been arrested and jailed, to assure that those who are injured receive proper medical care, and to hold those responsible to account," it said.

"We also call on Belarus to stop its harassment of the remaining independent media still striving to report on the realities in Belarus and to respect freedom of assembly, speech, and independent media in Belarus," it added.

The independent Association of Belarussian Journalists said the raids on journalists, mainly from broadcast media, were aimed at clamping down on criticism of the president.

But the foreign ministry said that the security services were investigating Belarussian journalists working "illegally" for foreign media because they did not have the required accreditation to work in Belarus.

Earlier this month, the Belarus asked US ambassador Karen Stewart to leave Minsk and ordered its own ambassador to Washington to return home in protest at US sanctions on Belarussian oil monopoly Belneftekhim.

Belarus said the sanctions were a "crude violation" of international law.

The United States has imposed sanctions on the foreign assets of Belneftekhim in order to put pressure on Lukashenko's regime to allow democratic freedoms and release political prisoners.

The US embassy said it will also bow to Belarus' call to sharply cut its embassy staff in Minsk by the end of the day on Thursday.

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