A journalist for CBS news is recovering after being attacked and sexually assaulted in Egypt's Tahrir Square, according to a statement from the company.

CBS said Lara Logan, originally from South Africa, was in Egypt reporting for the channel's 60 Minutes programme when her camera crew and security team were engulfed by a group of more than 200 people.

The statement said "In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew. She was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers."

Logan, who has worked for CBS since 2002, is the channel's chief foreign affairs correspondent and a board member for the Committee to Protect Journalists, which has recorded 140 attacks on journalists over the course of the Egypt protests.

Logan was one of those detained by the Egyptian military as part of an initial crackdown on foreign journalists.

Followed the attack, Logan has since returned to the United States, where she is recovering in hospital.

The statement concluded that "Logan and her family respectfully request privacy at this time."