BEIRUT: The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group said on Sunday it was working to create a 30,000-strong border security force in northern Syria, drawing sharp condemnation from Turkey.
With the offensive against IS winding down, the coalition and its allies in the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance were beginning to shift their focus to border security, coalition spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon told AFP.
"There is a goal of a final force of approximately 30,000," about half of whom would be retrained SDF fighters, he said.
"There are approximately 230 individuals that are training right now in the border security force. That's an inaugural class," Dillon said.
The SDF has ousted IS from swathes of northeastern Syria, backed by the US-led coalition's air strikes, equipment and arms.
Its Kurdish and Arab members now control territory bordering Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east and Syrian government forces to the west.
Turkey reacted sharply to news of the border force on Sunday, saying it would "legitimise a terror organisation".
Ankara is fiercely opposed to the SDF, which is dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) -- considered by the Turkish government to be a "terrorist" group.
"Rather than end its support to the PYD-YPG, these steps taken to legitimise a terror organisation and to make it permanent in the region are worrying," said Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"Accepting this state of affairs is absolutely not possible," Kalin added, in comments reported by Turkish media.
Dillon could not immediately confirm whether the border security force would be deployed along the frontier with Turkey or adjacent to territory controlled by Syrian regime forces.
He declined to comment on possible "rules of engagement" between the border units and Turkish or Syrian troops.
The force's creation, Dillon said, was instead part of a broader strategy to "prevent the resurgence of IS".
"With the fight against IS, as the remaining pocket continues to go away, we know that doesn't mean the end of Daesh. We'll have to make sure that there is security that can be maintained," he said.