MARRAKESH — 2011 · Major Tragedy

The Argana Café Bombing

SolvedSources: ALast updated: 14 October 2026

At about 11:50 am on 28 April 2011 an explosion tore through the Argana Café on Marrakesh's famous Jemaa el-Fnaa square. Two homemade bombs were used in the attack. Seventeen people, most of them foreign tourists, were killed and 25 injured. Six days later Moroccan authorities arrested the bomber, Adil El-Atmani. In October 2011 an anti-terrorism court sentenced him to death, a sentence later upheld on appeal. It was Morocco's deadliest terrorist attack since the 2003 Casablanca bombings.

Date: 2011
Place: Jemaa el-Fnaa, Marrakesh, Morocco, Marrakesh, MA
Category: Major Tragedy
Case Status: Solved
Coordinates: 31.6258, -7.9891 ↗

Timeline of Events

28 April 2011, 11:50 amA bomb exploded at the Argana Café, killing 17.
4 May 2011The bomber, Adil El-Atmani, was arrested.

October 2011Adil El-Atmani was sentenced to death.
LaterThe appeal court upheld the death sentence.

Sources

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