Advocates say 22 Texas inmates still on hunger strike but state disputes figure

Solitary confinement inmates protest against brutal form of incarceration but state says it's only aware of six striking men

Prisoners in Texas who have been kept in solitary confinement in some cases for more than 20 years are sustaining a hunger strike in protest against their brutal form of incarceration in the face of threatened retaliation from state authorities.

Outside advocates working with the protesting inmates say that in their latest count 22 men continue to refuse food, with two of them having been on hunger strike since the start of the action on 10 January.