An official with a US-backed militia says joint US-Turkish patrols will begin within hours around the northern Syrian town of Manbij, part of a roadmap for easing tensions between the two NATO allies.

Sharfan Darwish, spokesman of the Manbij Military Council, told The Associated Press that the patrols will begin later Thursday.

Ankara and Washington agreed on a roadmap in June amid Turkish demands for the withdrawal of the US-backed Kurdish militia that freed Manbij from the Islamic State group in 2016.

The Americans and the Turks have been conducting independent patrols along the border, and joint patrols are seen as a way of preventing violence.

The Manbij Military Council that administers the town says the Kurdish militia, which Turkey views as a terrorist group, left Manbij in July.