The Associated Press

Tue, Jul 22, 2008 (4:06 a.m.)

An international human rights watchdog is urging Syria to order an independent investigation into the shooting of inmates during a prison riot earlier this month.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch also wants Syrian authorities to make public the names of those killed or injured in the July 5th riot.

The group said in a statement Tuesday that at least nine inmates and one policeman were killed, while some Syrian human rights organizations have reported that as many as 25 may have been killed.

Syria has not disclosed any details or casualty figures from the riot at Saidnaya prison in a Damascus suburb. Authorities say the rioting was short-lived and triggered by a group of extremists who had carried out terrorist attacks in Syria and Iraq.