Sign at entrance of Camp Delta

U.S. military officials say 75 prisoners at the American naval base at Guantanamo Bay are on a hunger strike.

A military spokesman for the base Navy Commander Robert Durand says the hunger strike is an attempt to gain media attention. He said it may be related to May 18 clashes between detainees and military guards.

Some of the detainees have been on the hunger strike since August.

In past months, the military has force-fed hunger strikers by placing a tube through their noses into their stomachs. Earlier this month, lawyers for a detainee filed a complaint saying the force-feeding method amounts to torture.

More than 400 prisoners are being held at Guantanamo on suspicion of links to al-Qaida or the Taleban.