Moroccan authorities believe four suspects in the killing of two Scandinavian women in the Atlas Mountains were acting on their own initiative, even though they had just pledged allegiance to ISIL, an official said on Sunday.

Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark, and Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway were found dead last Monday with cuts to their necks near the village of Imlil, on the way to Toubkal, North Africa's highest peak and a popular hiking destination. The pair had pitched their tent in a mountain area two hours' walk from the village. 

The first four suspects were detained in Marrakesh, an hour away from the scene of the murders. In a video recorded last week and circulated on social media, the four suspects pledged allegiance to ISIL and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. 

The murder was initially termed a terrorist act by authorities. But on Sunday, Boubker Sabik, spokesman for the Moroccan security and domestic intelligence services, described the four as "lone wolves." "The crime was not coordinated with ISIL," he said. "Lone wolves do not need permission from their leader," he added, without explaining how the authorities had come to their conclusions.

Nine other individuals were arrested by the Central Bureau for Judicial Investigations on Friday in various Moroccan cities over suspected connections to the killers. Authorities said their arrest "spared Morocco a terrorist plot".

Sabik gave no details of this suspected plot but said Morocco is stepping up efforts to counter security threats posed by the return of ISIL fighters from Syria and Iraq.

(Top image: Police officers and locals at the crime scene where the bodies of two Scandinavian women were found from the tourist village of Imlil in the High Atlas range, December 18, 2018. /VCG Photo)