This is the third installment in a new series analysing the threat environment in the Sahel based on the propaganda output by Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), the Islamic State–West Africa Province (ISWAP), and the Islamic State–Sahel...
CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed on the situation in Syria and ISIS returnees in Germany. “More than 1,100 Germans joined the IS terrorist militia in Syria or Iraq. After the collapse of the caliphate, 472 returned. These returnees are under special surveillance by the security authorities; some have been convicted. The greatest threat comes from radicalized IS fighters still in Kurdish prisons. If IS succeeds in freeing prisoners, they could enter Germany. Returnees are often traumatized; some are no longer radicalized, others potentially dangerous. The police treat each case individually. So far, there have been no attacks by returnees; known IS attacks were mostly carried out by radicalized individuals in Germany.”
Hans-Jakob Schindler, former coordinator of the UN monitoring committee on militant groups, told AFP: “The risk that Islamic State Khorasan sees these newly arrived Afghans as a potential recruitment pool is high.” He noted that since 2021, IS-K has recruited both disaffected Taliban members and Afghans excluded from the new governing structures. Schindler says “Many foiled attacks in Europe between 2023 and 2025 have been linked back to the Islamic State.”
A new report from the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) assesses Burkina Faso’s status as the deadliest country in the world for terrorist violence—and outlines how the state’s response is making matters worse. The failure to contain these terror...
This is the second entry in a new series analysing the threat environment in the Sahel region based on the terrorist propaganda output by Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), the Islamic State West Africa (ISWAP) and the Islamic States Sahel...
One of them even dug her own grave in the video. "It was a shock element deliberately copied by Hamas, which the terrorist militia 'Islamic State' regularly used in its hostage videos and continues to use to this day," says Hans-Jakob Schindler, Senior Director of the international Counter Extremism Project. "It was clear: The Israeli government had to respond."
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."
This is the first entry in a new series analysing the threat environment in the Sahel region based on terrorist propaganda output by Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa’l-Muslimin (JNIM), the Islamic State West Africa (ISWAP), and the Islamic States Sahel...
The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) reports weekly on the methods used by extremists and terrorist groups on the Internet to spread propaganda and incite violence. Last week, CEP researchers located messages in an online pro-ISIS community on the...
Terrorism expert Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler [CEP Senior Director] describes the Solingen terrorist attack as a "classic IS attack scenario." A considerable number of ideological extremists have carried out attacks over the past year—Schindler assesses the danger as "quite high."
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