Syria: Refugees living in fear as the fighting moves closer

Just beyond the row of Turkish flags that mark both the end of Kilis refugee camp and the national border, a military helicopter circled menacingly, seeking out unrest in the shrub below.

Youths swiftly clambered on top of their makeshift homes, craning their heads to monitor the battle unfolding on the flat Syrian plains before them.

Suddenly the bursts of gunfire from the horizon grew constant and close. "There is shooting, there is shooting, run, move inside," said one mother urgently grabbing her child.

As pitched battles unfold on the Syrian-Turkish border between rebel fighters and Syrian government troops, thousands of families who had fled the violence in Syria risk once again being plunged into the violence of civil war.

The aluminium sheet contours of the camp and white carbon-fibre box homes provide little shelter from stray ammunition. A man calling himself Hamoud pointed to the home of a family whose son had been injured in an attack that wounded at least five people. The bullet had penetrated the wall, and smashed though the window. Mahmoud spoke as his wife prepared tea on a hotplate. He said: "We have been here four weeks, but we just don't feel safe".

In a camp of several thousand, distinguishing between civilians and men who have taken up arms is almost impossible. "Spies" for the Syrian regime exist in the camp, said a refugee named Sami. Fear of persecution permeates the camp. As Sami, and Hamoud and others spoke to The Daily Telegraph, they removed their sim cards from their mobile phones, fearing that the regime may be able to listen in.

Abu Mohammed fled across the border after a spell in prison. "I know that if I go back and Bashar al-Assad is not dead, then it will be me and my family who will die," he said.