Boko Haram militants have killed more than 20,000 people and displaced more than two million others in north east Nigeria since 2009. The militants left government and its security forces looking powerless and people in the region helpless. No place was safe. Rather than flee, join the insurgents, or risk being killed, some chose a fourth option – self- defense. People began to organize into emergency community vanguards to defend themselves. The involvement of vigilantes in counter-insurgency operations in Nigeria has been a subject of contentious debate. It’s apparent that they have contributed to improving security for some communities. But there are also concerns that in the long run they could pose a threat given their heavy-handed approach. Examples include extra-judicial killings, violation of human rights, extortion and criminal impunity.

The German Federal Criminal Police (BKA) have reported that the followers of the right-wing Reichsbürger movement could engage in “extreme violence, including terror acts.” A comprehensive report, compiled by German law enforcement services, concluded that the movement is more dangerous to public safety than other right-wing and nationalist German political movements. The Reichsbürger movement – which is somewhat similar to the U.S. Sovereign Citizen movement – is not considered the most extreme right-wing politically, and its followers are not organized in the traditional sense.

The “It Takes Just One” campaign, launched by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) minor program students in September 2016, rose above forty-nine competing teams from across the United States to win the Peer to Peer Challenging Extremism Initiative on Tuesday,18 July. The competition is a U.S. government effort aimed at finding new ways to challenge extremism and is led by the Department of Homeland Security.

Iran’s efforts to build a “direct corridor” from Baghdad to the Mediterranean Sea and further entrench itself militarily in Syria are two of Israel’s most pressing concerns, Israel’s former national security adviser said. The corridor, referred to as a “Shiite crescent” by Jordan’s King Abdullah, would place Israel’s borders in “direct connection to Iran—a long line but still very easy to move forces, capabilities and everything that the Iranians will want to build around Israel,” Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror said.

Reports from German intelligence agencies show that Iran is still attempt to procure illicit technology, including parts for the operation of its heavy water reactor, which was shuttered under the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal. Three German citizens were charged with violating export bans for sending 51 specialized valves to Iran. The parts can be used in Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, which “can be used to develop plutonium for nuclear weapons” and was shut down as part of the nuclear deal.

A British study has found that Saudi Arabia plays a key role in the radicalization of Muslims. “The findings do not surprise me at all,” says an academic authority on Islam. “It has long been known that Saudi Arabia has been exporting Wahhabist ideology - largely similar to the ideology of the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (IS). Propaganda material and organizational expertise are being sent along with money. People are being hired to build mosques, educational institutions, cultural centers and similar organizations, so that Wahhabist theology can reach the public – with great success.”

Among the many atrocities Islamic State (IS) has committed, their violence against the Yezidis, a small religious minority in Iraq and Syria, can be classed as genocide. They have subjected the Yezidis to killing, serious bodily or mental harm, and the infliction of conditions calculated to bring about their physical destruction. The crimes against Yezidi women, especially, have the potential to permanently destroy a population’s capacity to rebuild itself as a stable and active group. Familial relationships break down and the victims of these crimes become ostracized, and are unable to marry or have children. It is something that the perpetrators of genocide have known for centuries. A group can be destroyed – if you also destroy their ability to reproduce.

The U.S. media covers terror attacks in the United States carried out by Muslims more than five times as much as the coverage by the same media of terrorist attacks carried out by non-Muslims, a new study finds. The researchers analyzed the coverage of all terrorist attacks in the United States between 2011 and 2015, and found there was a 449 percent increase in media coverage when the perpetrator was Muslim relative to acts of terrorism perpetrated by non-Muslims. Muslims committed 12.4 percent of terrorist attacks in the United States between 2011 and 2015 — but received 41.4 percent of news coverage.

The head of Israel’s internal security service has revealed that Israel is successfully fighting back against cyberterrorism and prevented thousands of potential so-called “lone wolf” attacks with the aid of technology. The Shin Bet head revealed that Israel used technological and intelligence methods to identify and prevent over 2,000 potential “lone wolf” attacks since the beginning of 2016.