ANKARA — Turkish border guards have beaten and shot Syrians trying to reach Turkey, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday, as fighting in the border province of Aleppo intensifies threatening to force more people to flee.

HRW said in March and April, five people, including a child were killed and 14 were seriously injured as a result of border guards’ shootings and beatings. The report is based on interviews with victims, witnesses and Syrian locals.

A video released by HRW purporting to show the victims of the beatings and shootings depicted a bloodied body with bandages around his exposed torso. Another male corpse is shown with red and purple marks all over his back and arms.

In response to the report, a senior Turkish presidency official said the authenticity of the video could not be verified. 

A recent surge in fighting in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city before the war, wrecked a 10-week-old partial truce sponsored by Washington and Moscow that had allowed U.N.-brokered peace talks to convene in Geneva.

In its press release, the rights group recognized Turkey’s right to protect its border, which includes the border town of Kilis that is targeted by rocket fire from ISIS areas in recent weeks. 

But HRW urged Turkey to respect international norms on use of lethal force as well as the right to life.

Earlier this year, Turkey and Europe agreed on a plan to send back migrants and asylum seekers to Turkey from the Greek Islands, with Brussels committing six billion euros to help support refugees in Turkey.

The legality of the deal, aimed to stem the flow of migrants to European shores, hinges on Turkey being a safe country of asylum, which rights groups and NGOs have said was not the case.