US says more Gitmo inmates have joined growing hunger strike

US authorities have again pointed out to the steady spreading of the hunger strike by foreign inmates in its notorious Guantanamo prison and torture facility.

Lt. Col. Samuel House announced on Saturday that 100 of the 166 prisoners at the American military base in Cuba have now joined the strike, amid insistence by some inmate lawyers that all of the detainees have joined the hunger strike to protest their indefinite detention.

According to Col. House, 19 of the hunger strikers are currently being force-fed with liquid nutrients through a nasal tube in efforts to prevent dangerous weight loss.

The military official further stated that five of protesting inmates have been transferred to the camp’s hospital for observation, adding that they do not have any life-threatening conditions.

Lawyers for the detainees have repeatedly challenged the figures released by the authorities, emphasizing that the military is undercounting the number of hunger strikers.

The Guantanamo detainees began the hunger strike in February to protest poor prison conditions and their indefinite confinement without charges or any chance for a legal trial.