Updated

British shoe bomber Richard Reid is being force fed in a maximum-security prison in the U.S. after refusing to eat for several weeks.

Court documents showed the 35-year-old, who was convicted in 2003 of trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic plane, has rejected food since March.

Prison officials decided "that medical intervention was necessary" on April 7, a government lawyer said.

Reid had refused 59 meals by April 9 and was now being force fed and hydrated, according to the documents dated April 14.

An update filed to the court on Friday confirmed he was still on hunger strike with prison officials continuing to monitor his condition.

Reid is being held at the Supermax prison, the highest-security federal jail in the US, in Florence, Colorado.

It is not clear whether the hunger strike is related to a legal action he has filed against prison officials.

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