Joint US-Turkish patrols around the northern Syrian town of Manbij have begun, Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Thursday. Akar said combined patrols, that are part of a roadmap aimed at easing tensions between the two allies, began earlier in the day, AP reports. Turkey and the US agreed on a roadmap in June amid Ankara’s demands for the withdrawal of the US-backed Kurdish militia that freed Manbij from the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) group in 2016. The US and the Turks have been conducting independent patrols along the front line. Joint patrols are considered a way to tamp down potential violence between the various groups in the region.