Prisoners and guards clashed after a detainee's suicide attempt at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Fox News televison reported Friday.

 

The incident took place Thursday when guards were responding to the fourth attempted suicide that day at the detention center, the report said.

 

As they entered a communal living area to stop a prisoner from trying to hang himself, the guards were attacked by detainees who were wielding fans, light fixtures and other improvised weapons.

 

Earlier in that day, three detainees in another part of the prison attempted suicide by swallowing prescription medicine they had been hoarding.

 

Detainees who took part in the clash have been moved to higher-security sections of the prison and those who attempted suicide received medical treatment.

 

The incident occurred on the same day the US military transferred 15 Saudi detainees to their country, leaving about 460 detainees at Guantanamo.

 

There have been 39 suicide attempts at Guantanamo since the prison opened in January 2002.

 

The US opened the prison on its Navy base in Guantanamo in January 2002, and about 460 prisoners are still being held there. Only 10 of them have been charged by the military tribunals, and no verdicts have been issued so far.

 

(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2006)