Prisoners wielding improvised weapons clashed with guards trying to stop a detainee from committing suicide at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the US military said today.
The fight occurred yesterday in a medium-security section of the camp as guards were responding to the fourth attempted suicide that day at the detention centre on the US Navy base, Navy Cmdr Robert Durand said.
Detainees used fans, light fixtures and other improvised weapons to attack the guards as they entered a communal living area to stop a prisoner who was trying to hang himself, Durand said.
Earlier in the day, three detainees in another part of the prison attempted suicide by swallowing prescription medicine they had been hoarding.
The attempted suicides and clash occurred on the same day the military transferred 15 Saudi detainees to their country, leaving about 460 prisoners at Guantanamo.
It was unclear if the disturbances were related to the transfers. The detainees who clashed with guards were moved to higher-security sections.
The medium-security Camp Four, where the clash occurred, houses detainees in dorm-style rooms that hold up to 10 people.
Camp Four is for the most compliant prisoners and those who are slated for release.
Those who attempted suicide received medical treatment, the military said. Their names were not released, and military officials declined to speculate about possible motives.
This was the second reported simultaneous suicide attempt at Guantanamo, which holds detainees suspected of links to al Qaida or the Taliban.
The US military said 23 detainees carried out a co-ordinated effort to hang or strangle themselves in 2003 during a week-long protest in the secretive camp in Cuba.
There have been previous reports of protests and more minor disturbances at the detention centre, including incidents in which detainees hurled urine and other bodily fluids at guards or banged on cell doors for hours at a time.
A hunger strike that began last August has involved up to 131 detainees but has dwindled to handful.
Word of the clash came as a UN panel that monitors compliance with the world's anti-torture treaty called on the US to close the prison.
There have been 39 suicide attempts at Guantanamo since the prison opened in January 2002, the military said.