WASHINGTON -- As of Wednesday, there were 25 hunger strikers, with eight receiving feeding tubes, according to Navy Capt. Robert Durand, a spokesman for the detention center. That's an increase of 11 since last Friday.

During his testimony, Kelly said the detainees "had great optimism that Guantanamo would be closed" and were devastated when Obama said nothing about the facility in his inauguration speech or State of the Union speech.

But lawyers who have represented Guantanamo prisoners said the protest began in early February when a relatively new officer in charge of camp operations, Army Col. John Bogdan, ordered an intensive search of the communal pod-like area where a majority of detainees are held. Guards confiscated personal items such as family letters, photos and mail from attorneys. The prisoners also said government-issued Qurans were searched in a way they considered religious desecration.

Speaking later to Pentagon reporters, Kelly said the hunger strikes were an attempt to get attention and that officials were watching to see if the detainees were eating. While they may be refusing meals, some also had access to food and snacks in a common area where they were being detained.

"We also know they're eating when they're in the cell," Kelly said, adding that it's "their attempt at some level of resistance or to demonstrate their displeasure at what's going on."

Kelly also denied any suggestion that Qurans were being mishandled.

"No way has a Quran in any way shape or form been in any way abused or mistreated. So their claims are nonsense," he told reporters. He said the only people who touch the Qurans are translators or others who are Islamic in their beliefs.

---

Associated Press writers Ben Fox in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington, contributed to this report.