Two Scandinavian tourists brutally killed in Morocco slain 'by ISIS' say Danish authorities

Rachid Afatti (L), Ouziad Younes (C), and Ejjoud Abdessamad (R) are three suspects in the grisly murder of two Scandinavian hikers whose bodies were found at a camp in Morocco's High Atlas mountains,
AFP/Getty Images
Bonnie Christian20 December 2018

The Danish Intelligence service suspects ISIS is behind the grisly killings of two Scandinavian tourists in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco.

On Thursday, Moroccan police arrested three people it had sought in a manhunt over the murders.

The bodies of 24-year-old Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, from Denmark and 28-year-old Maren Ueland, from Norway were found in the tent they shared in an isolated area near Imlil, on the way to Toubkal, North Africa’s highest peak and a popular hiking destination.

A suspect arrested in Marrakech on Tuesday was a member of a militant group, but authorities did not name the organisation.

Danish intelligence said on Thursday Islamic State could be responsible.

The suspected terrorists are reported to have filmed themselves decapitating one of the tourists.

The Moroccan Bureau for Judicial Investigations said on Thursday that three more suspects had also been arrested in Marrakech.

Louisa Vesterager Jespersen was one of
Bovec Sports Center Archive/via REUTERS

The evidence discovered so far pointed to a terrorist motive, it said.

Preliminary investigations of a video shared on social media purporting to show the killing of one of the tourists had found that it was shot in a different place from where the bodies were found, a police source told Reuters.

"The video and preliminary investigation according to the Moroccan authorities indicate that the killings may be related to the terrorist organisation Islamic State," the Danish intelligence service said in a statement.

"This is a case of an unusually bestial killing of two totally innocent young women," it said.

Compared to other countries in North Africa, Morocco has been largely insulated from militant attacks.

The most recent took place in April 2011, when around 17 people were killed in a bombing of a restaurant in Marrakech

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in