Eight Syrians including women and young children have been shot dead by Turkish border guards while trying to flee their war-torn homeland, it has emerged, Daily Mail reports.

The group of refugees were trying to cross into Turkey via a mountain smuggling route when they were gunned down by Turkish forces patrolling the border.

As well as those killed, many others are said to have been injured in the firefight including one man who was shot in both of his legs while carrying his young son and another who was shot in the arm.

Abdmunem Kashkash, a lawyer from Aleppo who was with the group but managed to cross into Turkey unharmed, said Turkish border guards are “killing unarmed people” every day.

Those who have been injured while desperately trying to flee Syria have been taken to a hospital in Azaz - a rebel-held town next to the Turkish border where 10,000 displaced people are sheltering.

The deaths appear to confirm claims made by the Human Rights Watch last week that Turkish guards open fire on civilians as they approached the country's border wall with Syria.