TURKEY says it will attack “nests” of terror in Syria as an angry reaction to the United States-led coalition’s plans to build a 30,000-strong border force to fight Islamic State.

The aim of establishing a Border Security Force (BSF), which was announced on Sunday, is to protect territory held by the Kurds in Syria’s northeast.

The alliance fighting Islamic State said the BSF would be made up of Arab and Kurdish soldiers — many who fight under the banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

It would be responsible for preventing a “resurgence” of IS in areas where the jihadists have been cleared.

However, the war-torn country’s government denounced the plans yesterday — saying it would consider the force’s members “traitors”.

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has also joined the condemnation and branded the BSF a “terror army”.

“Tomorrow, (or) the day after, (or) within a short period, we will get rid of terror nests one-by-one in Syria starting with Afrin and Manbij” in northern Syria, Erdogan promised in his weekly televised speech to his faction in parliament.

Turkey, which from August 2016 to March 2017 waged its Euphrates Shield cross-border operation in Syria, has repeatedly threatened a new operation against the YPG.

But Erdogan has stepped up the warnings in recent days as Turkish media said dozens of military vehicles were being deployed to the border area.

Turkey is angered because the SDF is largely made up of a Kurdish militia known as People’s Protection Units or YPG fighters. The country views YPG as indistinguishable from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which operates in Turkey and it regards as a terror group.

An official source in Syria’s foreign ministry released a statement denouncing America’s plan.

“Syria strongly condemns the US announcement on the creation of militias in the country’s northeast, which represents a blatant attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity and unity of Syria, and a flagrant violation of international law,” said the source, cited by state news agency SANA.

“Syria considers any Syrian who participates in these militias sponsored by the Americans as a traitor to their people and nation, and will deal with them on this basis.”

Backed by the US-led coalition’s air strikes, advisers and weapons, the SDF has ousted Islamic State from swathes of territory in the east and north, including IS bastion Raqqa.

With the offensive winding down, the coalition and SDF said they were shifting their focus to border security to prevent a jihadist comeback.

“A strong Border Security Force will prohibit Daesh’s freedom of movement and deny the transportation of illicit materials,” the coalition said, using the Arabic acronym for IS.

In a new emailed statement yesterday, it said it aimed to create the 30,000-strong force “over the next several years”.

About half would be SDF veterans, and another 15,000 would be new recruits.

“The Border Security Force will be stationed along the borders of SDF-held areas, to include portions of the Euphrates river valley and international borders to the east and north of SDF-liberated territory,” the coalition said.

On Monday, for the third straight day, Turkish artillery targeted Kurdish positions in the Afrin region of northern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Both the US-led coalition and the SDF declined to comment on potential rules of engagement with Turkish or Syrian troops.

— with AAP