Four Syrian refugees and four members of the Turkish security forces were hurt on Sunday when riots broke out at a refugee camp in Turkey near the Syrian border, the Dogan News Agency said.

The clashes erupted when a group of 1,500 or so ethnic Turkmen refugees from Syria arrived at the camp, near the town of Islahiye, witnesses told Dogan.

Television footage showed armored personnel carriers entering the camp and police firing weapons into the air to disperse groups of men fighting each other with fists and clubs.

CNN Turk television reported that some Turkish police had briefly been taken hostage.

Tensions are running high at the camps for refugees from the Syrian conflict as temperatures in southeastern Turkey climb to over 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

More than 43,000 Syrian refugees are registered in neighbouring Turkey. Some refugees have complained about conditions at the camps, including a lack of food.

At a container camp further south in Kilis, police used tear gas to disperse a group of refugees angry about food and water shortages who were throwing stones at police, a Turkish official said. No serious injuries were reported at the camp.