IS Linked Murders
Moracan authorities have detained a Swiss-Spanish national in connection with the brutal killing of two Scandinavian backpackers.
Maren Ueland, 28 from Norway and Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24 from Denmark were slaughtered while camping in the Atlas Mountains.
Moroccan Counter-terrorism officers claim the man taught social media and archery skills to some other suspects arrested in connection with the killings.
The individual is also suspected of recruiting Moroccans for ‘terrorist schemes’ aimed at ‘foreign interests and security forces’.
The women’s corpses were located on December 17 and police currently believe the killers are affiliated to Islamic State.
So far 20 men have been arrested in the investigation into the killing.
Four of those arrested are the main suspects, all of whom pledged allegiance to IS just three days before the double killing occurred.
Mattress Migrants
Two African migrants were discovered by police attempting to cross the Spanish border hidden inside a pair of mattresses.
A video shot by a mobile phone went viral in Spain. It showed civil Guard Officer taking two mattresses off the top of a van and cutting them open to reveal two young men inside.
The incident occurred at a border crossing from Morocco to Melilla.
The two migrants told the police they each paid 4,500 euros to a trafficker to attempt the crossing. The driver of the van fled on foot when agents asked to inspect his cargo. The two men were taken to a migrant holding center.
Also yesterday Spain’s maritime rescue service said its craft saved 111 migrants trying to cross the Strait of Gibraltar.
Fatal Crash
A British woman has been killed in a car crash which left her partner and daughter seriously injured on a notorious Costa Blanca road.
The woman, believed to be in her sixties and from Bedfordshire, died following a head-on crash with another car just minutes from Alicante airport.
The family had just touched down for a New Year’s break on Sunday, and had been driving to a holiday villa when the accident happened near Santa Pola on the N332.
Sunday’s crash saw the woman killed and five other people injured, including her partner and daughter, who is thought to have been driving the car.
It’s feared her partner is critically injured and was in a coma when he was rushed to hospital.
Terror Scare
A Frenchman has been arrested after sparking a terror scare at Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia when he was caught carrying five handgun magazines for a 9mm pistol.
A small dagger is also thought to have been discovered in a rucksack he was carrying when he tried to get into the city centre cathedral.
Police are said to have found a weapon with its serial number erased in his car, which was parked nearby.
The man, understood to be a soldier, was being held ahead of a behind-closed-doors court appearance.