by Rachel Ogbu

In an effort to stop a prolonged hunger strike at Guantanamo’s communal camp, military guards fired four non-lethal rounds at detainees early Saturday morning as the facility commander forced them into single cells.

In an official statement. Authorities explained that the 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.”

According to reports, there are about 43 detainees participating in the hunger strike, which started in February, but detainees have told their lawyers the strike is much more widespread and involves the vast majority of the 166 detainees remaining at Guantanamo.

Samir Naji al Hasan Moqbel, a prisoner at Guantánamo Bay since 2002, told his story, through an Arabic interpreter, to his lawyers at the legal charity Reprieve in an unclassified telephone call.

His story which was published in the New York Times, read:

“I’ve been on a hunger strike since Feb. 10 and have lost well over 30 pounds. I will not eat until they restore my dignity.”

“I’ve been detained at Guantánamo for 11 years and three months. I have never been charged with any crime. I have never received a trial.”

“I could have been home years ago — no one seriously thinks I am a threat — but still I am here. Years ago the military said I was a “guard” for Osama bin Laden, but this was nonsense, like something out of the American movies I used to watch. They don’t even seem to believe it anymore. But they don’t seem to care how long I sit here, either.”

13 of those detained are reportedly being force fed.