Five Washington state hunger strikers put on medical watch

Olympia, Washington: Five detainees on hunger strike at an immigration holding center in Washington state were placed under medical observation on Tuesday, a federal agency said, while advocates insisted it was a divide-and-conquer tactic to undermine their protest.

Now in its fifth day, the hunger strike was called by detainees demanding an end to U.S. deportations and better conditions at the privately run Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.