It’s been just over seven years since evil terrorists killed two innocent tourists backpacking – and filmed the whole thing
Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren Ueland were found dead near Morocco’s Atlas Mountains(Image: Twitter)
Two young women on a hiking trip of their dreams were found brutally beheaded after camping overnight at an isolated mountain site. Maren Ueland and Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, both in their mid-twenties, had travelled to Morocco for a month-long holiday and were hiking in the foothills of Mount Toubkal, North Africa’s highest peak, before they were targeted by a group of pro-ISIS fanatics.
The killers, desperate to be recognised as heroes of ISIS, has recorded the entire sickening attack on video, with the vile clip going viral as it was shared thousands of times by extremists on both sides.
The murderers, Rachid Affati, 33, Younes Ouazid, 27, and 26-year-old ringleader Abdessamad Ejjoud, were sentenced to death for the horrific act seven years ago to the day, earlier this month. They had hatched dozens of ill-fated terror plans with another conspirator, Abderrahmane Khayali, 33.
But in December 2018, explains a new video from true-crime podcast Disturban, the fanatics came up with a plan that was as simple as it was horrifying: “Head to Mount Tubkall and wait there for any Westerners who come by as this place in particular was a hot spot for Westerners.
“With them, they had a mobile phone, camping equipment, recording devices, a tent, and an arsenal of knives. Whilst here in the mountains, they considered attacking several people. But upon seeing that these people had guides, they backed out and waited for another opportunity. When no suitable targets appeared, Abdman left and he went back to Marrakesh. The three others remained, desperate to find a westerner, kill them, and record the whole thing.”
The pair had been hiking in hiking in the foothills of Mount Toubkal(Image: Lukas Hodon via Getty Images)
Maren, from Norway, and her 24-year-old Danish friend Louisa loved the outdoors and had been looking forward to wandering in the picturesque mountains. They were confident hikers and had not engaged a local guide. As the light began to fail on Friday, December 14, they decided to set up camp for the night.
“However, they were being watched,” the podcast explained. “The three men saw where the women had stopped. For them, this was the perfect target. Two women almost incapable of fighting back, and there were no guides with them.
“After midnight, the men approached the women’s tent. Younes called towards the women’s tent and ordered them to come outside, but before they had a chance, he reached for the zip. Louise then reached for the zip, too, to hold it shut. But Younes pulled out a blade and proceeded to cut her hands. The men then thrust knives through the nylon wall of the tent.”
Ouziad died in prison in 2025(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
There was no thought of kidnapping the women for ransom. The three men were intent on slaughter. And on recording their horrific act for a global audience.
Louisa, despite having sustained horrific injuries, managed to run a short distance from the tent. But Rachid was close behind: “He filmed Louisa while he held her down on the floor with his foot pressing against her neck, awaiting for the others to arrive with their machetes. When Abdessamad caught up, he pulled out his machete and hacked at Louisa’s neck, stopping only when he had fully decapitated her.”
Pausing only to record a video message proclaiming that the sick crime was revenge for attacks on ISIS forces in Syria, the group then turned their attention on Maren, who was still lying grievously injured inside the blood-soaked tent.
Louisa briefly managed to get away from the killers(Image: Facebook)
“She was alive, but she was frozen by the shock of being stabbed repeatedly,” the podcast explains. “Younes then stabbed her again in the chest, in the back, and in the arms. He then dragged her halfway outside the tent and told the others what he was about to do. He told them he was going to remove her head. Younes then hacked at her neck repeatedly until her head was fully removed.”
The trio’s recording of the attack lasted a little over a minute. The killers then made their escape, abandoning their own camp and attempting to disguise themselves. They recorded another video, using a crude home-made ISIS flag as a backdrop, proclaiming their allegiance to the notorious terror network.
“Feel your necks, oh enemies of Allah,” they said in the video: “We affirm our allegiance to the emir of the believers and the caliph of Muslims, Ibrahim Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.”
Maren and Louisa believed they had taken adequate precautions(Image: Collect Unknown)
However Islamic State ignored the killers’ request to distribute the video, refused to acknowledge the attack and has consistently rejected the Moroccans’ pledges of loyalty.
Meanwhile, two horrified French tourists had stumbled across the bloody remains of the campsite and alerted the authorities. Some 20 adherents to the killers’ cause were arrested in the days that followed for “suspected links to the perpetrators of the terrorist act”, Moroccan officials said.
Ejjoud, the ringleader of the group, told the court that he didn’t believe in laws nor human rights(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
Moroccan police spokesman Boubker Sabik described the four men as “lone wolves”, and stressed that “the crime was not coordinated with Islamic State”.
The three men directly involved in what Danish intelligence sources describes as an “unusually bestial killing” were sentenced to death on July 18, 2019, by a Moroccan court with a further 20 co-conspirators receiving custodial sentences.
At his trial Ejjoud, the ringleader of the group, told the court that he didn’t believe in laws nor human rights. Khayali hanged himself in his cell in 2023 and two years later Ouaziad died in the same way.