This January 19, 2012, file photo reviewed by the US military shows the front gate of “Camp Six” detention facility of the Joint Detention Group at the US Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (AFP Photo/Jim Watson)
Miami, AP—A US military spokesman says the number of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay labeled as hunger strikers has been raised to 92 based on evaluations by medical personnel at the US base in Cuba.
The new figure is up by eight from a day earlier and represents more than half of the 166 men held there.
Lt. Col. Samuel House says the military arrived at the new figure Wednesday because doctors have been able to evaluate prisoners more closely after moving them to single cells, away from a communal area. That move sparked a brief clash between guards and prisoners on April 13.
House said Tuesday that 17 of the 84 strikers are being fed liquid nutrients to prevent dangerous weight loss.
Lawyers for the prisoners have been saying that the military has been under-counting the men refusing to eat since the strike began in February. The protesters are engaging in hunger strikes in protest against their confinement.