Turkey has boosted troop numbers on its border with northern Syria, local media reported on Sunday, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to launch a military operation in the area against a US-backed Syrian Kurdish militia.

The number of Turkish military patrols on the frontier with armoured vehicles "increased" in the border town of Akcakale, the private DHA news agency said.

Nine trucks carrying armoured vehicles and a bus with military personnel on board had reached Akcakale in Sanliurfa province, state news agency Anadolu reported late Saturday.

The convoy was sent to reinforce the military units on the Syria border, the agency said, without directly linking the arrival with the operation threatened by Turkey.

Erdogan on Saturday renewed his vow to start an "air and ground" offensive against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, viewed as a terrorist group by Ankara.

He said preparations had been completed for an operation that he warned could be as soon as "today, tomorrow". Turkey has previously said plans for the offensive were in place.

Akcakale is across from the Syrian town of Tal Abyad which was captured by the YPG from the Islamic State extremist group in 2015.

Kurdish authorities said in August their forces had started withdrawing from Tal Abyad.

Although the United States and Turkey agreed a deal in August to establish a buffer zone in northern Syria to keep the militia away from the Turkish border, Ankara has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the slow progress of any "safe zone".

Nine jihadists killed in Russia strikes on Idlib: monitor
Beirut (AFP) Oct 5, 2019 –

Nine jihadists were killed Saturday in Russian airstrikes on Syria's war-torn province of Idlib, a monitoring group said.

"Russian strikes this morning targeted the Hurras al-Deen group and Ansar al-Tahwid in eastern Idlib… killing nine jihadists," said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, adding eight others were wounded.

Six of the dead were members of the Al-Qaeda linked Hurras al-Deen, a group which is also targeted by the US-led coalition.

Moscow is a key ally of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the country's civil war, and despite an Idlib ceasefire deal reached on August 31, the province has continued to be targeted by Russian air attacks.

Russia-backed regime fighters have for weeks been chipping away at the edges of the province bordering Turkey that is the last jihadist stronghold outside of Assad's control.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — a group led by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate — extended its administrative control over the whole of Idlib in January, but other rebel factions remain present.

In late August, clashes between anti-government fighters and regime forces left more than 50 dead on both sides, when the jihadists attacked loyalist positions in the south.

Last month, Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution backed by 12 of the 15 member states that called for a ceasefire in Idlib province.

It was Russia's 13th veto of a UN resolution since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011, highlighting the Security Council's impasse over the issue.

The Syrian war has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it erupted in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.