THE Scandinavian backpackers beheaded by Moroccan 'lone wolves' were "happy and sociable" in their final days, it has been revealed.

Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark, and Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway, were butchered on a hiking holiday in the Atlas mountains by wannabe ISIS fanatics.

Their killers, who formed a makeshift 'terror cell' to deliberately target tourists just days before the sick murders, were seen lying in wait only 600 yards away.

Described as “lone wolves”, the killers are said to have wanted to “carry out terrorist acts inside the kingdom” in revenge for Kurdish forces taking back control of ISIS-held towns in Syria.

Sickening footage of the brutal beheading was shared on social media, and even posted online to the young women's parents.

Rachid Imerhade, a mountain guide who had met the two friends a few days before their deaths, described the pair as "happy" in their final days.

He said: "They were smiling, chatty and sociable. They talked a lot with the other people around.”

Jespersen's mother, Helle Petersen, told the Danish newspaper B.T. that her daughter was "always happy and positive. Everyone loved her and she saw the best in everyone".

She added that she had warned her daughter about travelling to Morocco "because of the chaotic situation", reported Straits Times.

Two days ago, six more suspects were arrested and are being held in Morocco as cops probe terror links of a gang of ISIS thugs.

The arrests bring the total to 19 people now in custody over the murders of the two young women.

They include nine suspects held before Christmas as authorities claimed they had foiled another terror plot and found bomb-making materials.

The four suspected killers pledged allegiance to jihadi "Caliphate" Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a video that emerged after they were captured last week.

But officials described them as a "lone wolf" gang with no formal ties to ISIS.

Boubker Sabik, spokesman for Morocco's security agency, said the victims were not selected in advance and it was not directed by ISIS.

He said: "The crime was not coordinated with Islamic State. Lone wolves do not need permission from their leader."

One of the thugs was a known extremist who was arrested in 2013 for trying to join jihadis abroad, according to reports.

It is alleged he radicalised the other three.

“The emir of the group” was Abdessamad Ejjoud, a 25-year-old street vendor living on the outskirts of Marrakech, according to the head of Morocco’s central office for judicial investigation, Abdelhak Khiam.

Khiam told AFP that Ejjoud had “formed a kind of cell that discussed how to carry out a terrorist act inside the kingdom”.

Investigators said earlier this week that the “cell” consisted of 19 members, including three with terror-related criminal records.

Authorities allege the four main suspects recruited up to 15 others into a hastily formed terrorist group, reported news.com.au.

During the horrific video, the perpetrators cry out: "It's Allah's will" and are heard saying: "This is revenge for our brothers in Hajine in Syria. These are your heads, enemy of God."

Information indicates that the women were killed in revenge because a town in Syria that had been held by ISIS was taken over by Kurdish forces.

Morocco is said to be beefing up its security efforts to combat ISIS fighters returning from Syria and Iraq.

Authorities said 242 of the 1,669 Moroccans who joined the terror group had been arrested.

Some had used false passports and tried to hide among refugees heading for Europe as ISIS began to lose key battles in the Middle East.