“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.”

"Hans-Jakob Schindler, the director of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), said this was justified.

“If you have to ask for permission before you break ties with al-Qaeda, from the leadership of al-Qaeda, the sincerity of the ideological reorientation is in question,” he said."

"A bit like the Taliban, the de facto rulers of Afghanistan since the summer of 2021, who are not yet recognised as such by the international community, HTS may have difficulty getting off Western lists of terrorist organisations. A position that German Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) think tank and former expert at the United Nations Security Council, considers justified. He stresses that HTS "glorified Hamas' attacks" against Israel on October 7, 2023.”

"Hans-Jakob Schindler, the director of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), said this was justified.

"If you have to ask for permission before you break ties with al-Qaeda, from the leadership of Al-Qaeda, the sincerity of the ideological reorientation is in question," he told AFP."

“Wednesday marks 23 years since 3,000 people were killed when terrorists hijacked passenger jets and purposefully crashed them in the worst attack on America in history. It was planned and carried out by al-Qaida, and while the U.S. has killed its founder, Osama bin Laden, and his successor, Ayman al-Zawahri, the militant group is still active. On this week’s episode of The Hunt with WTOP national security correspondent J.J. Green, Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director at the Counter Extremism Project, said two of al-Qaida’s original members are still out there and evidence suggests the group is training and plotting again.”