“Africa is the most important area of operations for Islamic State,” said Hans-Jakob Schindler, the former coordinator of the U.N. Security Council’s panel on Islamic State and al Qaeda. But Nigeria is a particular focus because it involves violence against Christians that resonates with Trump’s political base, Schindler said.

Attuned to Trump’s concerns, the Nigerians made a point Saturday of highlighting al-Mainuki’s role in overseeing attacks against ethnic and religious minorities. Trump made a point of thanking the Nigerian government for its role in the operation.

The decentralized groups, which are present in at least 34 states, engage in physical training and post white nationalist propaganda, according to the Counter Extremism Project.

According to the advocacy group Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), combat sport clubs have been used to boost recruitment to the Patriot Front, which was formed by Thomas Rousseau in September 2017 following the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia and has been designated as a hate group by the SPLC.

Donald Trump announces that the attacks on Iran are nearing their end. US troops will withdraw very soon. However, a completely different tone is emerging from Israel. [CEP Senior Director] Middle East expert Hans-Jakob Schindler summarizes the developments. 

There is discussion of U.S. ground operations in Iran, but the risk of American casualties is high. “This is a high-risk strategy that requires careful consideration,” says [CEP Senior Director] Hans-Jakob Schindler, a Middle East expert, on WELT TV.

The Revolutionary Guards are the Iranian regime’s defense force against external and internal threats. This elite force, which numbers up to 200,000 members, comprises ground forces, an air force, and a navy. It is responsible for the missile and drone programs. In addition, it is responsible for security in the Strait of Hormuz. This includes the decision to close the strait or launch attacks on Gulf states. “In times of war, the Guard is the central power in Iran,” Hans-Jakob Schindler, head of the Berlin-based think tank Counter Extremism Project, told our editorial team.

“The estimates of how many fighters terror groups, such as ISIS, have are always a complex endeavor,” senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, Hans-Jakob Schindler, tells the New York Sun. “One of the key challenges is what is classified as a ‘fighter’. Some governments only estimate the number of individuals that are armed and involved in actual fighting or attacks, while other governments also count all the supporters, including, for example, families.”

Joshua Fisher-Birch, a researcher at the Counter Extremism Project, said extremist propagandists operate similarly to content creators in many ways: they try to score as many followers as possible and keep them engaged. “This is all part of the attention economy,” he said. Extremist groups aim to spread their propaganda on large social media sites with lots of eyes on them, like TikTok and Instagram, Fisher-Birch said, or on gaming platforms that are popular with younger people. Telegram and other messaging apps are sometimes used for private chats and one-on-one communication, he said.

At 23:14, CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler discusses recent attacks against the Iranian nuclear program.

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler speaks about Russian low-level agents in Germany.