© file imageInmates have been on a hunger strike for three months
Guantanamo Bay prison guards have fired several rubber shots to quell prisoner unrest as they moved inmates into individual cells, US military officials said.
The violence erupted during an early morning raid carried out because, according to military officials, prisoners had covered up security cameras and windows as part of a protest and hunger strike over their indefinite confinement and conditions at the US base in Cuba.
Prisoners fought guards with makeshift weapons that included broomsticks and mop handles when troops arrived to move them, said Robert Durand, a military spokesman.
Guards responded by firing four "less-than-lethal rounds" in the section of the prison known as Camp Six, he said.
Mr Durand said there were "no serious injuries to guards or detainees" during the operation aiming "to reestablish proper observation" at the facility.
The rounds included a modified shotgun shell that fires small rubber pellets as well as a type of bean-bag projectile, said Army Colonel Greg Julian.
Mr Durand said inmates were being isolated "to ensure the health and security" for prisoners at the facility, where dozens of detainees are in the third month of a hunger strike.
"This action was taken in response to efforts by detainees to limit the guard force's ability to observe the detainees by covering surveillance cameras, windows, and glass partitions," the statement added.
"Round-the-clock monitoring is necessary to ensure security, order and safety, as detainees continued a prolonged hunger strike by refusing regular camp-provided meals."
The prison houses scores of detainees swept up more than a decade ago during in America's so-called war on terror.
The hunger strike began when the men claim prison officials searched their Korans for contraband. Officials have denied any mishandling of Islam's holy book.
An attorney representing some of the inmates slammed their treatment.
"It's just another example of force being used in GTMO (Guantanamo), instead of a sense of human rights," said military lawyer Lieutenant Colonel Barry Wingard.
"The sad thing is that it doesn't appear to matter which political party is in power in Washington. The officials in GTMO always resort to force over common sense."
Activists at an April 11 rally campaign for the closure of Guantanamo Bay
He said the prisoners had asked prison officials to take their Korans instead of "disrespecting" them.
"The officials refused to take the Korans, and continued to search the books in plain view of the prisoners," Col Wingard added.
"Of course, the bigger issue is the 11.5 years without charges and hopelessness of never being released."
Attorneys representing inmates at the prison have said that most of the estimated 130 detainees at Guantanamo's Camp Six wing, which houses "low-value" prisoners, are on hunger strike.
US authorities, however, put the number of hunger strikers at about three dozen.
US President Barack Obama ordered the closing of the Guantanamo detention centre when he took office in 2009, but that was blocked by a Republican-led bill that cut off funding to move the detainees to the US.
The politicians cited security concerns, saying the presence of the detainees would encourage terror attacks in the states or cities where they were being held.
Reader Comments
to our Newsletter