A total of 1,147 youth have been freed from Ethiopia's Tolay military camp after they were arrested over political violence that broke out last month, police say.

They were released after completing what the authorities described as “training on the Ethiopian constitution, rule of law and on nation building,” local media reports say.

The arrests were strongly condemned by rights group Amnesty International and social media users who said the indiscriminate detention of the youth threatened the human rights gains made since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in April.

At least 28 people died in clashes near the capital, Addis Ababa, following the return of exiled leaders of a former rebel group, the Oromo Liberation Front on 15 September.

The attacks on minorities in Ethiopia’s ethnic Oromo heartland outside Addis Ababa were seen as a setback to Mr Abiy’s efforts to achieve national reconciliation.