The Pentagon whistleblower Chelsea Manning has attempted to commit suicide for a second time whilst being held in solitary confinement in prison, her legal team have said.

Manning's attorney Chase Strangio said that she was struggling to cope after repeated "demoralizing and destabilising assaults on her health and humanity" since her arrest.

They included extensive spells held in solitary confinement as punishment for an earlier attempt on her own life in June.

He added he worries about Manning's "ability to keep fighting under these relentless abuses" in an email to the Associated Press.

The former US soldier is currently serving a 35-year sentence for leaking more than 700,000 secret files to Wikileaks.

She went on hunger strike earlier this year after the army failed to treat her gender dysphoria.