Turkey's preparations for an offensive in northern Syria have been "completed", the defence ministry said Tuesday, after confusing signals from the US over whether it would allow an operation.

US President Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal of US troops from Turkey's border with Syria on Sunday after a phone call with his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Turkish president has repeatedly threatened to attack Kurdish militants in northern Syria due to their ties with separatists in his own country.

"All of the preparations for an operation have been completed," the Turkish defence ministry tweeted, hours after US forces withdrew from the border area.

Erdogan had earlier said the operation could come at any moment "without warning".

Trump's move was seen by critics as an abandonment of Kurdish forces which had been the key US ally in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group.

But there was confusion later on Monday when Trump tweeted that he would "obliterate" Turkey's economy if it went too far.

Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay responded to Trump's threat on Tuesday, warning that "Turkey is not a country that will act according to threats".

"As our president always stresses, Turkey will always set its own path and will take matters into its own hands," Oktay said in a speech in Ankara.

Turkey says it wants a "safe zone" along northern Syria to act as a buffer against Kurdish forces and also allow the return home of up to two million Syrian refugees.

It has previously launched two cross-border offensives against IS in 2016 and the YPG in 2018, with the support of Syrian rebels.

Turkey hits Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq
Istanbul (AFP) Oct 8, 2019 –

Turkish air strikes hit Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq, Ankara's defence ministry said Tuesday.

The ministry said on Twitter that "nine terrorists were neutralised" in air strikes in the Hakurk and Hafta regions.

There were earlier strikes, announced late Monday, in the northern Iraqi region of Gara, where "three terrorists were neutralised".

The strikes were part of regular raids against Kurdish militants in Iraq and unrelated to planned operations against Kurdish forces in northern Syria.

Turkey started a ground offensive and bombing campaign against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iraq last May.

The PKK, which has been fighting an insurgency in Turkey since 1984, has rear bases in northern Iraq. It is blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and its Western allies.

Turkey says it will soon launch an offensive against Syrian Kurdish forces, which are tied to the PKK.

The defence ministry said Tuesday that preparations were complete for an operation after Trump ordered the withdrawal of US troops from the border region.