Thousands of young men — and some women — left Western Europe to fight in the ranks of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Many of them were second-generation migrants, others were converts with a traumatic background.

The book “Understanding Islamic Terrorism in Europe: Drugs, Jihad, the Pursuit of martyrdom” follows these psycho-social journeys to radicalisation, providing yet another thread that binds terrorism with social exclusion.

TACTICS talks to the author Dr Lewis Herrington about his findings and the connection between substance abuse and terrorism. Mr Ahmed Patel,  who is the brother in law of Mohammad Sidique Khan, one of the 7/7/2005 suicide bombers, also participates. Since the tragic events, he has spent much of his time as a researcher and community activist in outreach and deradicalisation projects.

To find out how substance abuse is connected to terrorism watch the in-depth discussion below.

Photo courtesy of  Pixabay by Michael de Groot