Scandinavian Hikers Murdered by ISIS Terrorists Flown Back From Morocco

The remote village of Imlil nestled on the slopes of the Atlas mountains in Morocco, Thursday Dec. 20, 2018, about 10 Km (six miles) from the spot where the bodies of two Scandinavian women were found. (Terje Bendiksby / NTB scanpix via AP)
The remote village of Imlil nestled on the slopes of the Atlas mountains in Morocco, Thursday Dec. 20, 2018, about 10 Km (six miles) from the spot where the bodies of two Scandinavian women were found. (Terje Bendiksby / NTB scanpix via AP)
TT
20

Scandinavian Hikers Murdered by ISIS Terrorists Flown Back From Morocco

The remote village of Imlil nestled on the slopes of the Atlas mountains in Morocco, Thursday Dec. 20, 2018, about 10 Km (six miles) from the spot where the bodies of two Scandinavian women were found. (Terje Bendiksby / NTB scanpix via AP)
The remote village of Imlil nestled on the slopes of the Atlas mountains in Morocco, Thursday Dec. 20, 2018, about 10 Km (six miles) from the spot where the bodies of two Scandinavian women were found. (Terje Bendiksby / NTB scanpix via AP)

The bodies of two women from Denmark and Norway murdered by suspected jihadists while hiking in the High Atlas mountains in Morocco were flown back to Scandinavia on Friday.

The remains of Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and 28-year-old Norwegian Maren Ueland were put on a plane that left Casablanca for the Danish capital, a police spokesman said.

Moroccan authorities said Thursday that four suspects arrested following the murder of the two tourists had pledged allegiance to the ISIS terrorist group.

The bodies of the two women were found Monday after they had pitched their tent at an isolated mountain site two hours' walk from the tourist village of Imlil.

One of them was beheaded, according to a source close to the investigation.

Imlil is a starting point for trekking and climbing tours of Mount Toubkal, which at 4,167 meters is the highest summit in North Africa.

Hours after the grisly discovery authorities announced the arrest of a first suspect and later said he belonged to an "extremist" group, while the three other suspects were arrested on Thursday.

Moroccan investigators are probing a link to extremism after a video emerged showing the suspects "pledging allegiance" to ISIS, the Rabat prosecutor has said.

Authorities in Morocco consider the killings a terrorist act.

Authorities were working to determine the authenticity of a video posted on social media networks allegedly showing the murder of one of the tourists, according to the prosecutor.

Norway's National Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) has also been investigating the footage circulating on social media.

"At this point, there is no tangible evidence that the video is not authentic," the agency said Friday.

The NCIS said it was trying to map the women's activities before their departure for the village of Imlil.

All four suspects were arrested in Marrakesh, an hour away from the scene of the murder.

Younes Ouaziad, 27, lived with his parents in the working-class Al-Azzouzia neighborhood.

His family and neighbors said Friday they were "in shock".

"He was a boy without any history, private. There was nothing to suggest he could do something like that," 35-year-old Abdelaati, a vegetable seller in the neighborhood, told AFP.

The murders have prompted condemnation from authorities in Denmark and Norway.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen denounced what he called a "beastly crime".

Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg condemned what she called a "brutal and meaningless attack on innocents".

Moroccan government spokesman Mustapha Khalfi described the killings as a "terrorist act" while Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani said it was a "stab in the back of Morocco and Moroccans".

Tourism is a cornerstone of Morocco's economy, accounting for 10 percent of national income. The country is generally considered safe for tourists but it has been routing out extremists for years.

Morocco has been spared militant attacks since 2011, when a bomb attack on a cafe in Marrakesh's famed Jamaa El Fna Square killed 17 people, most of them European tourists.



54 Migrants Rescued from Mediterranean Oil Platform

FILED - 31 May 2025, France, Gravelines: A group of people thought to be migrants onboard a small boat leaving the beach at Gravelines, France, attempting to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel. Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire/dpa
FILED - 31 May 2025, France, Gravelines: A group of people thought to be migrants onboard a small boat leaving the beach at Gravelines, France, attempting to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel. Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire/dpa
TT
20

54 Migrants Rescued from Mediterranean Oil Platform

FILED - 31 May 2025, France, Gravelines: A group of people thought to be migrants onboard a small boat leaving the beach at Gravelines, France, attempting to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel. Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire/dpa
FILED - 31 May 2025, France, Gravelines: A group of people thought to be migrants onboard a small boat leaving the beach at Gravelines, France, attempting to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel. Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire/dpa

Over 50 migrants were headed to the Italian island of Lampedusa Sunday after a charity ship rescued them from an abandoned oil platform in the Mediterranean, where one woman gave birth.

The vessel Astral, operated by the Spain-based NGO Open Arms, rescued the 54 people overnight, the group said in a statement.

The migrants had been trapped on the oil platform for three days after their rubber boat shipwrecked following their departure from Libya on Tuesday, Open Arms said.

On Friday, one of the migrants gave birth to a boy, while another woman had given birth days before. Two other young children were among the group, Open Arms said, according to AFP.

Later Sunday, the charity said that, following the rescue of those on the oil platform, the Astral came upon another 109 people, including four people in the water.

That group, which included 10 children, had also departed from Libya, it said.
Open Arms said they provided life jackets to the migrants before they were rescued by another charity ship, the Louise Michel, which is sponsored by street artist Banksy.

The Louise Michel, a former French navy vessel, was transporting the migrants to a safe port in Sicily, Open Arms said.

It is not unusual for migrants crossing the Mediterranean on leaky and overcrowded boats to seek refuge on offshore oil platforms.

As of June 1, some 23,000 migrants had reached Italy by sea this year, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).