Analysts with the Counter Extremism Project recently warned that a JNIM victory in Mali could make it the first country ruled by al-Qaida. Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, believes a JNIM victory could result in indirect rule instead.

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed about the arrest of a right-wing extremist in Germany accused of planning to kill German politicians on the dark net. 

Hans Jakob Schindler (Senior Director of the Counter Extremism Project) on the arrest of a suspected right-wing extremist from the Reich Citizens' Movement milieu

Radicalization via social networks is not an isolated incident, says terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler of the Counter Extremism Project research organization. He demands that platform operators cooperate more closely with the authorities.

“This is a good day for Germany,” commented extremism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of the Counter Extremism Project in Berlin, in an interview with our editorial team. “Why not sooner?” asks Schindler. The ban on “Muslim Interaktiv” was “long overdue.” “The great danger these people pose lies primarily in the fact that they are super-modern,” says the expert. “With highly professional videos and influencer posts, they radicalize young people in particular.”

Hamas and ISIS finance themselves through a global network of private supporters. According to terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler, this generates millions, often through many small individual donations, including from Germany. They often disguise their activities as humanitarian aid in order to obtain money. According to Schindler, they sometimes even blackmail aid organizations in crisis areas. IS is particularly active in Germany. After attacks, it deliberately spreads new messages to demonstrate strength, attract new donors, and prepare further attacks. Islamists, whether from IS or Hamas, operate their own propaganda channels on the Telegram platform, spreading messages and actively soliciting donations.

On Saturday, a Syrian suspected of terrorism was arrested in the Berlin district of Neukölln. The 22-year-old is now in custody. The charges: “Preparation of a serious act of violence endangering the state and the dissemination of propaganda material from unconstitutional and terrorist organizations.” How? Through social media. “There is hardly a terrorist attack in which social media does not play a significant role,” terrorism expert [CEP Senior Director] Dr. Hans Jakob Karl Schindler told Euronews.

The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) said the militants have captured large amounts of weaponry from government forces and now use drones in attacks. The Malian army, supported by Russian paramilitary fighters under Moscow’s “Africa Corps,” has carried out helicopter strikes and patrols, claiming to have killed dozens of insurgents. But attacks continue to spread across central and southern Mali, leaving garrisons isolated and deepening shortages. JNIM, which declared allegiance to al Qaeda in 2017, has been active across Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Its recent advances have heightened fears of regional contagion.

Hans-Jakob Schindler, Senior Director of the Counter Extremism Project, frames the problem in similarly stark terms. “There are two primary terrorist threats that can be identified,” he tells The Cipher Brief. “First of all, the rapid expansion of the al- Qaeda affiliate JNIM as well as the ISIS affiliates ISSP and ISWAP in the Sahel region has destabilized several countries, in particular Burkina Faso, Mali and to a growing extent also Niger, with continuing serious security problems in the North of Nigeria.” “The Sahel region is also a key network hub for the international drug transportation pipeline of Hezbollah-linked drugs that are transported from South America via West Africa to Europe for sale there,” he explained. “This pipeline directly funds Hezbollah’s activities in Lebanon. Given the central role that the U.S. is playing in the current negotiations between Hezbollah and Israel, this income stream for Hezbollah will continue to ensure that this terror group will be able to continue to fund its activities both within Lebanon and beyond.”