Turkish border guards shot dead at least 11 Syrians, mostly from one family, as they were trying to cross border and enter Turkey from northwestern Syria.

As activists and a monitoring group said on Sunday, at least two women and four children were among those killed in the shootings.

The refugees sought to cross into Turkey from the border village of Khirbet al Jouz, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Several activists in the area backed up the report, as Reuters reports.

Turkish military officials denied the reports.

“Claims that Turkish soldiers killed nine people that were trying to cross the border in Hatay province … are not true. Last night there was an attempt to cross the border illegally but no shots were fired directly on people,” a Turkish military statement said.

“After warning shots, a group of seven to eight people ran toward the woods,” it said.