The first pictures of the campsite where two backpackers were brutally slain have emerged.

The photos show the lonely tent in the secluded High Atlas mountains cordoned off with police tape while a forensic team scours the area.

It comes as authorities arrested three more suspects over the deaths of the two Scandinavian university students who were killed in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains.

The bodies of Dane Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Norwegian Maran Ueland were discovered on Monday at the campsite above the tourist village of Imlil, a well-known departure point for mountain hikes, where they pitched their tent for the night.

One of the victims was found “inside the tent, the other outside decapitated”, according to an Imlil hotelier.

Morroccan media outlets reported investigators have video surveillance footage showing three suspects putting up a tent near the victims’ tent and leaving the area after the slayings.

Slayings ‘may be related’ to extremist group

The three suspects were arrested as they tried to flee Marrakech on a bus, Moroccan national security spokesman Boubker Sabik said.

Authorities have said they consider the killings a terrorist act and Sabik said officials were investigating if the three had extremist ties.

Another suspect was arrested on Tuesday (local time).

Moroccan prosecutors said he had affiliations to an extremist group without naming it.

No other suspects besides the four now held are being sought, Mr Sabik said.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said the killings were “politically motivated and thus an act of terror”.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said terrorism was not the only lead being investigated but the case “emphasised the importance of combating violent extremism”.

Dream trip turns to nightmare

Ms Jespersen, 24, and Ms Ueland, 28, were on a month-long trip to Morocco.

Ms Ueland’s mother Irene told Norwegian broadcaster NRK the pair were well-prepared.

“Her priority was safety. The girls took every precaution before going on this trip,” she said.

Mr Loekke Rasmussen said “what should have been a holiday trip turned into a nightmare”.

Other tourists found the women with stab wounds in their necks and alerted police, according to national media in Morocco.

Attacks shake popular tourist destination

The slayings have shocked Morocco, a popular tourist destination where attacks on foreigners are extremely rare.

In the capital of Rabat, government spokesman Mustapha El Khalfi said Morocco condemned “this terrorist, criminal act”.

“It is an unacceptable act that does not fit with the values and traditions of Moroccan people nor the traditions of the area where the crime happened,” Mr Khalfi said Thursday.

“It is a denounced, condemned act.”

A national security official who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media identified the suspects to The Associated Press as Abdessamad Ejjoud born in 1993, Younes Ouziad born in 1991 and Rashid Aftati born in 1986.

They had knives and slingshots when they were arrested, the official said.

Morocco is generally considered safe for tourists but has battled with Islamic extremism for years.

More than a 1000 Moroccans are believed to have joined the Islamic State group.