CEP Senior Advisor Edmund Fitton-Brown interviewed: "Bill is joined by Caleb Weiss and Edmund Fitton-Brown to analyze the UN’s latest Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team report on the evolving threats posed by Al Qaeda and the Islamic State — from their current state and leadership to the geopolitical influences at play and strategic significance of areas like Syria, Iraq, and Somalia."

“The dissolution of Hurras al-Deen, al-Qaeda's last significant affiliate in Syria, demonstrates how sustained military pressure combined with internal ideological divisions can sink extremist groups, security analysts said… Hurras al-Deen claimed more than 200 attacks across Syria before its dissolution, according to the Counter Extremism Project. Hurras al-Deen was seen as a “serious threat” from the outset, France-based terrorism analyst Mohammad Yaqub Hosseini told Salaam Times. "Precise airstrikes targeting the group's leadership played a crucial role in weakening it," he said.”

CEP Senior Advisor Edmund Fitton-Brown interviewed: “Bill is joined by Caleb Weiss and Edmund Fitton-Brown to discuss the latest UN Sanctions Monitoring Team report on the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda that was released this week.”

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler writes: "A dangerous cocktail of indifference and complacency enabled al-Qaeda to evolve from a shadowy fringe network in the early 1990s into one of the most destructive and infamous terrorist organizations the world has ever known. Early warning signs – including attacks on U.S. embassies in East Africa and on the USS Cole – were dismissed as distant dangers, failing to provoke a coordinated decisive response in Western capitals. This complacency paved the way for the tragedy of 9/11. As the several attacks in Europe and the recent tragedy in New Orleans have shown, history is starting to repeat itself, except now the scale of the problem is larger, the geography more expansive and the consequences equally dire."

“... The TIP is "still officially part of the global al-Qaida network and, unlike HTS, has never distanced itself from al-Qaida," explains terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler of the Counter Extremism Project. "The fact that HTS accepts the TIP in its coalition is one of the main arguments that call into question the ideological orientation of the HTS," Schindler told the Münchner Merkur. Beijing's UN envoy Fu Cong told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that China was "extremely concerned" about reports that members of the TIP had been given high-ranking positions within the Syrian army.”

“Parts of the HTS alliance in Syria are clearly extremist and Islamist, even if their leader appears moderate, explains extremism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler.”

 

"Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior advisor to the Counter Extremism Project, an international organization formed to combat the threat from extremist ideologies, said the main US concerns revolve around whether the HTS would seek stable governance, or continued insurgency."

“Until two weeks ago, the Syrian civil war maintained a certain stability of status quo. Dictator Bashar al-Assad ruled in the south, the Kurds ruled in the northeast, and a Turkish- backed militia controlled the northwest… "The choice between Mr. Assad and HTS is almost like choosing between the plague and cholera," says terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler. If HTS does actually prevail, it would be bad news both for the ethnic minorities in Syria and for terrorism prevention in Europe. Schindler is Senior Director at the Counter Extremism Project and previously coordinated the monitoring of ISIL, Al-Qaida and the Taliban for the UN Security Council. Regarding his assessment of HTS, he points out: "There are already the first videos of people from the HTS environment who want to build a caliphate."”

"Hayat Tahrir al Sham, a terror group linked to al-Qaida, overran Syria’s second largest city this week. Counterterrorism experts indicate it’s the strongest signal in the last few years that the terror group and its allies are rapidly gaining strength. In this week’s episode of “The Hunt with WTOP National Security Correspondent J.J. Green,” Hans Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, said the group could soon become a problem for the U.S.”