The attacks targeted several villages and sites in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Raqqa, and Hasakah. One of the attacks hit an SDF military outpost in the countryside of the city of Al-Malikiyah, at the Syrian–Turkish–Iraqi tri-border region. Turkish artillery also hit SDF sites in the village of Umm al-Kaif in the countryside of the town of Tal Tamr, northwest of Hasakah.

According to field sources who spoke with Sputnik, Turkish artillery shelling hit the villages of Al-Sayyada, Aoun Al-Dadat, Al-Tukhar, and Al-Daraj.

On Thursday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that the attacks killed at least “27 members of military formations operating in SDF-controlled areas,” three soldiers from the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), and at least four civilians.

For its part, Turkiye’s Ministry of National Defense said 32 targets in Syria and Iraq were “destroyed” in the aerial offensive without providing details on the locations that were hit. Officials added that “all kinds of precautions” were taken to prevent harm to civilians.

The intense attacks were launched hours after armed assailants set off explosives and opened fire at the headquarters of the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS) in Ankara, which designs, manufactures, and assembles civilian and military aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and other defense industry and space systems.

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya and Defense Minister Yasar Guler accused the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) of being behind the attack.

“We give these PKK scoundrels the punishment they deserve every time. But they never come to their senses,” Guler said. “We will pursue them until the last terrorist is eliminated.”

At least five people were killed and 22 injured in the Ankara attack. Two attackers – a man and a woman – were also killed.

Terrorist attack in Ankara Turkiye, numerous dead and injured.

At least one female attacker, amongst several carrying automatic weapons, struck a military aerospace company. pic.twitter.com/ykAJgEpTrk

— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) October 23, 2024

Turkey regularly conducts air strikes against the PKK in Iraq and against the SDF in Syria. In 2014, the US military began partnering with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), an offshoot of the PKK. The YPG later changed its name to the SDF.

Together, the US and its Kurdish proxies occupy Syria’s northeast, including Hasakah, Raqqa, and parts of Deir Ezzor, denying Syria access to its oil resources and wheat-producing agricultural land.

Wednesday’s attack in Ankara came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in the Russian city of Kazan to attend the annual BRICS summit. He condemned the “hateful attack” alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoǧan told local media on Saturday that Russia, Iran and Syria should do more to protect Syria’s “territorial integrity.”

“It is essential that Russia, Iran and Syria take more effective measures against this situation, which poses the greatest threat to Syria’s territorial integrity,” Erdoǧan said when asked about the recent alleged Israeli airstrike in the nation’s capital, Damascus.

Obviously Iran and Syria are already working very closely together. But we shall see what Russia and Turkey decide to do.

The Russians definitely have their hands full with Ukraine, and so they don’t really have resources to spare for a war in the Middle East. And Turkey is a member of NATO, and that status would certainly be jeopardized if Erdogan decided to jump into this conflict. But as for Iran and Syria, they are already essentially at war with Israel.

The IDF is constantly bombing targets inside Syria, and the Iranians recently launched about 200 missiles into Israel.

Now we are waiting for the Israeli response, and Iran has already told the Biden administration that it will respond in kind to any Israeli attack…

Iran has informed the United States that it will retaliate against any new attack by Israel, a source in Tehran told CNN. Iran’s government has also been engaging in urgent diplomatic efforts with countries in the Middle East to gauge whether it can reduce the scale of Israel’s response to its missile attack earlier this month and — if that fails — help protect the capital, sources say.

Nobody is backing down this time.

The final showdown between Israel and Iran has arrived, but both sides don’t seem to fully realize this yet.

Meanwhile, the IDF continues to bomb the living daylights out of Hezbollah targets all over Lebanon…

Israel expanded its targets in its war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 21 people in an airstrike in the north, health officials said, while millions of Israelis took shelter from projectiles fired back across the border.

So far the main focus of Israel’s military operations in Lebanon has been in the south, the Bekaa Valley in the east and the suburbs of Beirut.

I am expecting some really big escalations in the coming days.

But for the moment we are still waiting for the next big shoe to drop.

At the same time, the Russians and the Chinese just continue to develop closer ties with one another…

Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in Beijing Monday for talks with his Chinese counterpart, who called for strengthening military cooperation between the two countries.

Moscow and Beijing have forged closer ties since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, an alliance that has sparked anxiety in the West as both countries seek to expand their global influence.

How many years have I been warning about a very strong alliance between Russia and China?

This is precisely what we have been anticipating, but very few people in the western world seem to be alarmed about what is happening.

Despite all of the money that we have poured into Ukraine, the Russians are winning that war.

At this point, the Ukrainians are so desperate for manpower that they are literally dragging young men out of restaurants, clubs and bars in front of everyone…

Ukraine’s military recruiters have launched targeted raids in Kyiv, detaining those whose documents do not comply and press-ganging them into the army.

Video footage captured the moment two men were dragged away by officers as they exited the Palace of Sports on Friday where Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy played.

One concertgoer could be seen struggling and shouting ‘Get away from me!’ at three policemen as they pulled him towards the recruitment desk set up outside the venue.

A series of raids were carried out at restaurants, clubs, bars and a concert hall in the capital city, according to reports.

Of course the Ukrainians have been quietly doing this sort of thing for a long time, but now they aren’t even trying to hide it anymore.

On the other side of the world, the Chinese just surrounded Taiwan with warships and fighter jets…

On Monday China has launched large military drills encircling the self-governing island of Taiwan, which Taipei has blasted as an “unreasonable provocation”. China’s PLA military deployed warships and fighter jets to send a “stern warning” against “separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces”.

The PLA Eastern Theater Command deployed joint operations of the army, navy, air force and rocket force. These assets have been largely concentrated in the Taiwan Strait, as well as surrounding Taiwan. “The joint drills focused on sea and air combat readiness, blockading key Taiwanese ports and areas, and assaults on maritime and ground targets,” described the eastern theatre command’s spokesperson, senior captain Li Xi.

The good news is that this was just a military exercise.

The Chinese are practicing for a future blockade of Taiwan, and just before the military exercise commenced a video was released that boldly declared that the Chinese military is “prepared for battle at all times and can fight anytime”…

Just before these fresh drills, China’s military issued and circulated a propaganda video entitled “prepared for battle” on vairous social media accounts. The about one-minute video features fighter jets, warships and amphibious assault vessels taking to the air and sea near Taiwan. Mobile rocket launchers are also seen being maneuvered and made ready for attacks. Text associated with the video said Chinese forces are “prepared for battle at all times and can fight anytime.”

A blockade will probably be the very first step that the Chinese take when they decide that it is time to forcibly “reunite” with Taiwan.

And the moment that they establish such a blockade, the U.S. and China will be at war.

Sadly, that could happen a lot sooner than most people think.

Like I said at the beginning of this article, war is in the air.

We are so close to the unthinkable, and our window of opportunity to avoid a global nightmare is rapidly closing.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday appeared to threaten to invade Israel in support of the Palestinians, and to put an end to the nearly 10-month-old war Israel is fighting against Hamas in Gaza.

Turkey must be “very strong so that Israel can’t do these things to the Palestinians,” the Turkish leader said of the war. “Just as we entered [Nagorno-]Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them. There is nothing we can’t do. We must only be strong.”

That is nuts. But I think that he was quite serious.

In response to these remarks, Israel’s foreign minister is calling on NATO to expel Turkey from the alliance…

Israel’s foreign minister urged NATO to expel Turkey on Monday after its President Tayyip Erdogan threatened his country might enter Israel as it had entered Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh in the past.

“In light of Turkish President Erdogan’s threats to invade Israel and his dangerous rhetoric, Foreign Minister Israel Katz instructed diplomats … to urgently engage with all NATO members, calling for the condemnation of Turkey and demanding its expulsion from the regional alliance,” the ministry said.

I don’t think that there is an imminent threat that Turkey will take military action against Israel.

But without a doubt, Erdogan is very dangerous, and he is not particularly stable.  During one recent event, Erdogan actually slapped the face of a small boy that hesitated to kiss his hand at an important public event…

During the event, where the leader was seen handing keys to the new homeowners of houses rebuilt as part of an urbanisation project, two young boys appeared on stage to greet the president after he delivered a short speech.

In viral footage, Erdogan was seen extending his hand to the two children so they could kiss it but one hesitated for just a moment while staring up at the president.

Viewers were then left in shock when Erdogan quickly flicked his wrist and slapped the small boy across the face, before resuming his position and waiting for his kiss.

If I was that little boy, I wouldn’t have wanted to kiss his hand either.

Let’s keep a very close eye on Turkey and all of Israel’s neighbors during the months ahead, because things will soon get very “interesting” in the region. In fact, many are concerned that the spiral of escalation that we are currently witnessing could be difficult to stop.

On Saturday, a rocket that was fired by Hezbollah killed 12 children when it slammed into a soccer field in northern Israel…

A new close-up video emerged Tuesday showing the moment the football pitch was struck. It shows children playing in a small park next to the pitch as sirens start to blare. The youngsters appear anxious but do not initially seek shelter.

Then the sound of the incoming rocket can be heard, quickly becoming deafening, before it smashes into the ground just meters from the camera and appearing to knock the girl holding the phone to the ground. For a split second, the camera captures a huge fireball triggered by the blast.

Children are heard screaming before they run to shelter behind a wall, along with others. “Mom! Mom!” she screams as she runs to safety, as an alarm, perhaps set off by the blast, can be heard. The video ends about 30 seconds after the rocket struck.

In response, Israel stuck Beirut on Tuesday.  The goal was to kill a key Hezbollah military commander that was responsible for the attack on the soccer field…

A massive Israeli strike rocked southern Lebanon targeting a top Hezbollah military commander as fears of a wider war exploded.

Massive plumes of smoke were seen over the Lebanese capital Beirut today (Tuesday) as Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant declared the militant group Hezbollah had “crossed the red line”.

The Israeli military said it had struck targeting the militant commander allegedly behind the deaths of 12 children and teens.

Just before I started writing this article, the IDF announced that the target of the attack had indeed been killed.

His name was Fuad Shukr, and he had been conducting terror attacks in the region for a very long time…

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced the death of Fuad Shukr, the Hezbollah commander who was behind a drone strike that killed 12 children and teens over the weekend.

Shukr, who was also known as Hajj Mohsin, joined Hezbollah in 1985. He was also sought by the U.S. government over his connection to the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, which targeted U.S. Marines.

Shukr served as a senior adviser to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah at the time of his death. He died in an IDF strike on Tuesday in southern Beirut, Lebanon.

Now we shall see what Hezbollah chooses to do in response.

Prior to the Israeli attack, the head of Hezbollah had pledged that any attack on Beirut would mean that Tel Aviv would be targeted in return…

On Monday, Lebanon’s foreign minister told CNN that an Israeli attack in the southern suburbs of Beirut, or the international airport, “would surely lead to war.” Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly said that any Israeli strike on the Lebanese capital would prompt a Hezbollah attack on Tel Aviv.

I am sure that Hezbollah will do something in response. But I don’t think that all-out war will erupt quite yet.

I still think that we are at least a couple of months away.

But a day of reckoning is definitely approaching.  The Israelis are absolutely determined to move Hezbollah north of the Litani River, and Hezbollah has warned that the moment IDF troops enter southern Lebanon all-out war will begin.

So let’s see what happens.  I think that both sides would like to avoid all-out war, but throughout history major wars have erupted “even when leaders didn’t want them”…

Israel wants to remove the Hezbollah threat entirely, moving it back to the Litani River, in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution that ended the last major war between the two in 2006. “If the world doesn’t get Hezbollah away from the border, Israel will do it,” said former Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz in December.

And so despite the bombast, domestic pressures, the fears and the escalations, the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah continues to simmer rather than boil over. No one seems to want this war. But as Hochstein warned in that same webinar: “Wars have started historically around the world even when leaders didn’t want them, because they had no choice.”

I have written extensively about “the three wars of the apocalypse”, and this end times war in the Middle East is one of them.

Ever since last October, this war has been simmering at a relatively low level as Israel and Hamas have been going at it.

But eventually this thing is going to spiral out of control, and the death and destruction we will witness will shock the entire globe.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

We will see how this plays out but keep a close eye on how Erdogan handles his opposition going forward. Here’s a not-so-bold prediction: He’s going to crack down on dissent and grab up as much power as possible in the coming weeks.

According to the Associated Press:

Turkey’s main opposition party retained its control over key cities and made huge gains elsewhere in Sunday’s local elections, in a major upset to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had set his sights on retaking control of those urban areas.

With more than 90% of ballot boxes counted, incumbent Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, was leading by a wide margin in Turkey’s largest city and economic hub, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. Mansur Yavas, the mayor of the capital, Ankara, retained his seat with a stunning 25-point difference over his challenger, the results indicated.

In all, the CHP won the municipalities of 36 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, according to Anadolu, making inroads into many strongholds of Erdogan’s party. It gained 37% of the votes nationwide, compared to 36% for the president’s party, marking the CHP’s greatest electoral victory since Erdogan came to power two decades ago.

Desperate despots are dangerous. Stay frosty.

This is why most economists have ignored discussing gold recently. They are still thinking in terms of near-future repercussions and forecasts; the level of gold buying by central banks should mean markets are tanking already. Since they are not, economists have dismissed the gold buying as anomalous. What they’re missing, whether out of intent or ignorance, is that central banks are buying gold in preparation for the burgeoning Central Bank Digital Currencies.

It behooves Americans to follow the real experts. While most economists are still bullish on gold, they are not nearly bullish enough when we consider the trajectory of worldwide economies, de-dollarization, CBDCs, and inflation that continues to rise despite ongoing rate hikes. The central banks seem to know what many economists ignore, that precious metals are poised to be one of the best (and possibly only) major asset class that doesn’t bottom out if/when the “economic crap” hits the fan.

The article below by Peter Reagan breaks down what’s been happening so far. It’s no secret that we’re huge fans of physical precious metals in your safe or backing your retirement accounts, but the prospect of these gold surges continuing is not something we want to hear. Yes, it’s great for our customers but unfortunately it means the vast majority of Americans who do not have the cash or retirement accounts to put into precious metals will suffer. We do NOT delight in the upcoming events that could send gold and silver skyrocketing, but we’ll help people prepare for them nonetheless. With that said, here’s Peter Reagan…

It’s mentioned often how central banks are one of the pillars of support when it comes to gold prices. Lately, though, it seems that they’ve taken on an even more prominent role in the market.

JP Morgan’s analysis recently said that global gold investment has reached the highest level since 2012. They downplayed the role of central banks, noting that individual investors and traders have become increasingly active in the gold market. And it’s hard to argue that gold, increasingly, is becoming a mainstream rather than an “alternative” asset.

But it seems we can’t check the headlines anymore without seeing a report of central bank gold buying. Even Turkey’s decision to sell a fraction of its gold reserves (which is probably the reason 2023 central bank gold buying won’t top last year’s record number) was, counterintuitively, a story about gold demand. The Turkish central bank sold some 71 tons of gold on the domestic market, to its own citizens. Thanks to inflation, citizens have all but abandoned the lira in favor of gold. We’ve reported on the Turkish enthusiasm for gold previously so we won’t recap the nation’s struggles at length.

Still, how strange is it that the Turkish central bank, which was responsible for the nation’s near-50% inflation is now selling gold bullion? And getting paid for it in the very same lira they’d printed a couple weeks ago? Seems like the citizens of Turkey are fed up with Modern Monetary Theory, and voting against it with their wallets…

In other news, China has now extended its streak of official gold purchases for the tenth consecutive month. The 930,000 oz of gold bought in August bring the nation’s official reserves to 2,165 tons. (And, as we know, that figure is probably more than a little under-reported.)

It also shouldn’t escape us that this massive expansion of official central bank gold holdings coincides with a reduction in foreign exchange reserves by 1.38%, the lowest level since the start of the year. In simpler terms, China’s using currency to buy gold – just like you or I would.

It wasn’t that long ago that it would have been strange to find an active central banker talking about gold. Yet today, we find central banks aren’t just hoarding gold themselves, they’re actively encouraging gold ownership among their citizens.

Strange times, indeed.

Article cross-posted from Birch.