An Author’s Quest to Understand the Mind of Terrorists

The World

A bomb exploded Tuesday on a busy street in Mogadishu, Somalia killing 70 people and injuring many more.

Many of the victims were students who had gathered near a government building to register for scholarships to study in Turkey.

The al-Qaeda affiliated group al-Shabab claimed responsibility.

It is always difficult to imagine what could motivate an individual, whether in Somalia or Afghanistan or anywhere to carry out such a horrific attack.

Author Ken Ballen has tried to grapple with the logic.

He interviewed more than a hundred extremists for his new book “Terrorists in Love: The Real Lives of Islamic Radicals.”

Among those he profiles is a star-crossed couple.

Are you with The World?

The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.

When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.