KABUL, Afghanistan, April 18 (UPI) -- Taliban militants vowed to target U.S. troops in Afghanistan in response to U.S. guards firing non-lethal rounds at clashing inmates at Guantanamo prison.
Hunger strikers at the prison used improvised weapons to clash with guards Saturday before being confined to single cells, CNN reported.
Guards were attempting to move the men from communal living space to individual cells because they had begun covering security cameras with cereal boxes and other items, prohibiting "round-the-clock monitoring" in the facility, Guantanamo spokesman Capt. Robert Durand said.
Guards fired non-lethal rounds at the inmates to quell the violence and said detainees were seriously injured.
Taliban group spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid issued a statement quoted by Khaama Press calling the actions of prison guards "cowardly," adding the Taliban "take a firm stance against it based upon evident human principles."
"The mujahedin of the Islamic Emirate ... vow to avenge these wronged prisoners by targeting the American invaders in Afghanistan with all might at their disposal, Allah willing," he added.
Attorneys for the Guantanamo detainees said the immediate cause for the protest, which started in February, was a decision to search detainees' Korans. Military officials said Korans were searched for contraband but were handled by interpreters, most of whom are Muslim, not guards.
