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Morocco killing of Scandinavian women linked to militants, says prosecutor Three more arrests over 'militant' attack on Scandinavians in Morocco
(about 11 hours later)
A man suspected in the killing of two female tourists from Norway and Denmark in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains belongs to a militant group, a prosecutor said on Wednesday, without identifying the group. Moroccan police have arrested three more people over the killing of two female tourists from Norway and Denmark in a suspected militant attack in the Atlas Mountains.
The women’s bodies were found on Monday in an isolated area near Imlil, on the way to Toubkal, North Africa’s highest peak and a popular hiking destination. The bodies of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark and Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway, were found on Monday in an isolated area near Imlil, on the way to Toubkal, morth Africa’s highest peak and a popular hiking destination.
The man was arrested in Marrakech, Morocco’s main tourist hub, and police were hunting other individuals identified as suspects. The authorities had said a suspect arrested in tourist hub Marrakech on Tuesday was a member of a militant group, without naming the organisation. Danish intelligence said earlier on Thursday that Islamic State could be behind the killings.
Suspect held after Scandinavian tourists killed in Moroccan mountains Three more suspects sought by police had also been arrested in Marrakech, the Moroccan Bureau for Judicial Investigations said in a statement.
“We are working to bring before justice three other suspects on the run,” said police spokesman Boubker Sabik. The evidence discovered so far pointed to a terrorist motive, it said.
The two tourists, Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, of Denmark and 28-year-old Maren Ueland of Norway, were killed in an unguarded area in hard-to-reach mountains, he 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.
Investigations are also seeking to authenticate a video tape shared on social media claiming to show the killing of one of the tourists, the general prosecutor said in a statement. “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.
The video purportedly shows the killing, with a woman screaming while a man cuts her neck with what appears to be a kitchen knife. “This is a case of an unusually bestial killing of two totally innocent young women,” it said.
A source from Imlil said one of the victims was found dead inside her tent while another was found outside. Before leaving, Jespersen, from Denmark, had posted on Facebook about her upcoming trip.
Citing a security source, Morocco’s public TV channel 2M said on its website that investigations showed that the slaying of the two tourists was militant-related. It did not elaborate. “Dear friends, I’m going to Morocco in December. Any of you guys who’s around by then or any mountain friends who knows something about Mount Toubkal?“
Morocco has been largely insulated from the militant attacks that plagued other countries in North Africa. The latest bomb attack in the country dates back to April 2011 when 17 people were killed in a restaurant in Marrakech. 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.
Morocco has stepped up its effort to counter militant groups with the creation in 2015 of its own version of the FBI. The Central Bureau for Judicial Investigations has so far broken up 57 militant cells, including eight in 2018. “This is a brutal and meaningless attack on innocent people, which we react to with disgust and condemnation,” said Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg in a statement.
More than 1,000 Moroccan youths, predominantly from the north of the country, have joined militant groups in the Middle East. Morocco’s Central Bureau for Judicial Investigations, established in 2015, says it has so far broken up 57 militant cells, including eight in 2018.
MoroccoMorocco
AfricaAfrica
Middle East and North AfricaMiddle East and North Africa
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