The Jihad Sisters: Twins Hoping To Be Doctors; Now they're in Syria 'Training to Be Killers'

Twin schoolgirls who followed their jihadi brother to Syria were hard-working students who hoped to train as doctors.

Sixteen-year-olds Salma and Zahra Halane, who last summer achieved 28 GCSEs between them, left their parents’ home in the middle of the night and caught a flight to Turkey, before crossing the border.

Police said the pair are thought to have followed their elder brother, who ditched his own ‘excellent’ academic career to join the ISIS terror group around a year ago. 

Friends said the twins had appeared to be typical teenagers, pouting for selfies and shopping at Primark – but they are now feared to be training for battle.

Last night a rebel fighter boasted that he was teaching girls as young as 16 how to fight. Yilmaz, a Dutch national who has been in Syria for two years, told Sky News: ‘It’s extremely easy to get here. People go on holiday ... they end up in Syria.’  

[Horrific Video] Syrian Catholic Priest 'Beheaded by Jihadist Rebel Fighters In Syria

A Catholic priest, Franciscan Father Francois Murad has been killed in Syria, it has been confirmed by the official Vatican news agency. Francois Murad is said to have died after fighters linked to the jihadist group Jabhat al-Nusra attacked the monastery he was staying at, local sources say.

Catholic Online links to amateur footage purporting to show the 49-year-old's horrific death and reports: "The Vatican is confirming the death by beheading of Franciscan Father, Francois Murad, who was martyred by Syrian jihadists on June 23."

It shows a man the channel understands is the priest, sitting cross-legged with his hands bound, alongside two other men while fighters surround them chanting “Allah Akbar” (God is great). Video after the cut... ...but we warned, it's extremely graphic: