To their teachers and schoolfriends, Zahra and Salma Halane, the Manchester 16 year olds the UK tabloids dubbed the “Terror Twins,” seemed like ordinary teens.
Salma sported a leather jacket; Zahra – known as “Zee” – developed a crush on Leonardo DiCaprio after her English class watched The Great Gatsby. Popular at school, they were, in the words of a friend, “smiley, happy people”, known for their confident leadership.
Devout Muslims born in Denmark to Somali refugees, “They were always laughing, trying to help other people, to cheer people up,” muses classmate Aruba Aman, who mentored primary school children with the twins.
But on June 26, 2014, they made what Aruba calls “the biggest mistake of their lives”.
They stole out of their bedrooms at night, taking their passports and…
