Three suspects arrested in brutal murder of Scandinavian tourists, connection to ISIS suspected

Two Scandinavian tourists on a vacation in Morocco were brutally murdered by a group of men whom authorities suspect are connected to ISIS. From Fox News:

Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark, and Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway, were murdered while camping in the Atlas mountains. The women were found in and outside their tent, located about two hours walking distance from the village of Imlil. One of the women had been decapitated.

The killers are understood to have filmed the double slaying and a video is circulating on Moroccan social media, according to Morocco World News.

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The Guardian reports that Danish intelligence is investigating the video as Moroccan authorities arrested three men believed to be involved:

The Danish intelligence service, the PET, at first said it had authenticated the video but later rowed back, saying it was still being “examined”. The latest statement came as Moroccan authorities arrested three more suspects over the killings in the Atlas mountains, which have sent shockwaves through a popular tourist destination that has been relatively untouched by Islamist attacks.

The Moroccan government spokesman, Mustapha El Khalfi, described the killings as a “criminal and terrorist act”…

The men were seized with three long machete-like knives, a shorter blade, a slingshot and several mobile phones. Another suspect arrested in Marrakech on Tuesday had affiliations to an extremist group, Moroccan authorities said, and had apparently identified the others involved…

In the videos that have been circulating, a voice can reportedly be heard speaking of the “enemies of Allah” several times and referring to “revenge for our brothers in Hajin”, referring to the last stronghold of Isis in Syria, which fell a few days ago.

Local news reports suggest the killers camped near where the two women were camping in the Atlas mountains and then fled immediately after the attack. The women’s bodies were found by a pair of French women hiking nearby.

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This attack comes just about a week after the Christmas market mass shooting in Strasbourg by a man who was apparently inspired by ISIS. And just this week I wrote about a 23-year-old ISIS sympathizer here in the U.S. who was allegedly planning attacks and/or wildfires in California. And Ed wrote about a foiled plot against the Vatican which had been planned by ISIS. All of that to says, ISIS may be mostly gone in Syria but they clearly still have the ability to inspire attacks around the world.

Update: Photos of the three suspects who have been arrested.

https://twitter.com/bdnews24/status/1075764034417217538

The Daily Mail is reporting that video of four men pledging allegiance to ISIS has been found separate from the video of the attack.

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