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ISTANBUL, Jan. 26-- As the Turkish military advances in Syria's Afrin against Kurdish militia forces, the U.S. call for a limitation of the operation's scope reveals rising tension in ties between the two NATO allies. Hours after a phone call between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, Turkish jets struck a group of Kurdish militia in rural Manbij, local media reported Wednesday. Some U.S. troops are deployed in Manbij, which is also under the control of the Kurdish militia known as the People's Protection Units (YPG). "Risk is high for Turkish army to directly clash with the U.S. troops in Manbij," Haldun Solmazturk, a former general of the Turkish military, told Xinhua. Ankara launched last Saturday a military operation, dubbed Olive Branch, in a bid to push the Kurdish militia out of Afrin on its border. A statement issued by the White House following Wednesday's phone call said Trump "urged Turkey to deescalate, limit its military actions." According to the statement, the U.S. President also "urged Turkey to exercise caution and to avoid any actions that might risk conflict between Turkish and American forces." Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday that the White House statement did not reflect the true content of the phone conversation, it may have been prepared in advance. "The U.S. message is more than clear, 'forget about Manbij and please wrap up Afrin!'" Faruk Logoglu, a former senior diplomat, told Xinhua. | 
