The 2011 Marrakesh bombing was a
domestic terrorist
Domestic terrorism or homegrown terrorism is a form of terrorism in which victims "within a country are targeted by a perpetrator with the same citizenship" as the victims.Gary M. Jackson, ''Predicting Malicious Behavior: Tools and Techniques ...
bombing of the Argana Cafe in
Jemaa el-Fnaa
Jemaa el-Fnaa ( ar, ساحة جامع الفناء ''Sāḥat Jāmiʾ al-Fanāʾ'', also Jemaa el-Fna, Djema el-Fna or Djemaa el-Fnaa) is a square and market place in Marrakesh's medina quarter (old city). It remains the main square of Marrakesh, u ...
,
Marrakesh
Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...
,
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
, on April 28, 2011. A lone terrorist, Adil El-Atmani, planted two homemade
pressure cooker bombs hidden inside of a backpack at the cafe and detonated them at 11:50 a.m., killing 17 and injuring 25. Many of the dead were tourists, including a group of
French students.
El-Atmani, a 25 year-old shoe salesman, pledged allegiance to
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb ( ar-at, تنظيم القاعدة في بلاد المغرب الإسلامي, Tanẓīm al-Qā'idah fī Bilād al-Maghrib al-Islāmī), or AQIM, is an Islamist militant organization (of al-Qaeda) that aims to ...
, who denied involvement in the attack. He was arrested six days later after a
SIM card
file:SIM-Karte von Telefónica O2 Europe - Standard und Micro.jpg, A typical SIM card (mini-SIM with micro-SIM cutout)
file:Sim card.png, A smart card taken from a Global System for Mobile Communications, GSM mobile phone
file:Simkarte NFC SecureE ...
registered under his name was found in what remained of the bomb. During questioning, he said that he learned bomb-making on the Internet. A letter to the French government found on his laptop ordered the withdrawal of French troops in the Middle East, threatening to "attack targets in the heart of France" if his order was not fulfilled within the twenty days following the attack.
Adil El-Atmani was sentenced to death for the attack by an anti-terrorism court in
Salé
Salé ( ar, سلا, salā, ; ber, ⵙⵍⴰ, sla) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the right bank of the Bou Regreg river, opposite the national capital Rabat, for which it serves as a commuter town. Founded in about 1030 by the Banu Ifran ...
. He is awaiting execution at Moul El Bergui central prison in
Safi.
He was put in solitary confinement in 2017 after attempting to kill his cellmate.
Casualties
17 people were killed, of which fourteen died on the site, while three more succumbed to their injuries the next day. 25 people were injured, four seriously, including Russian computer hacker
Roman Seleznev, a portion of whose skull was blown off.
The casualties were eight French nationals, including a girl of 10 years, originally from northern France, an Israeli-Canadian woman and her Moroccan husband, another Moroccan citizen, a Briton (Peter Moss, 59, from London who was a former writer for the newspaper ''
The Jewish Chronicle
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
''), a
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
man, a
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
and a
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
. The Swiss and the Portuguese were the companions of two
Ticino
Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...
natives injured in the same attack.
Among the injured, 14 were hospitalised and four were repatriated to their country the next day (two Swiss and two Russians), while others left the hospital after receiving the necessary care. One of the Swiss later died while in hospital in Zurich.
Responsibility
Morocco blamed
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb ( ar-at, تنظيم القاعدة في بلاد المغرب الإسلامي, Tanẓīm al-Qā'idah fī Bilād al-Maghrib al-Islāmī), or AQIM, is an Islamist militant organization (of al-Qaeda) that aims t ...
for the bombing.
The group has been fighting an
insurgent campaign since 2002. However, Al Qaeda denied responsibility for the blast.
[
On 28 October 2011, in court in ]Rabat
Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...
, Adel al-Othmani was sentenced to death for his role in the bombing.
Hakim Dah received a life sentence. Four others were given four years and three were given a two-year sentence for their roles. The defendants complained that the case against them was based on confessions coerced through torture and lacked hard evidence.
International reactions
– President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Serzh Sargsyan
Serzh Azati Sargsyan ( hy, Սերժ Ազատի Սարգսյան, ; born 30 June 1954)[Of ...](_blank)
sent his condolences to the King of Morocco
This is the list of rulers of Morocco, since the establishment of the state in 789. The common and formal titles of these rulers has varied, depending on the time period. Since 1957, the designation King has been used.
The present King of Moroc ...
and stated his support "in finding the culprits and bringing them to justice".
issued a strong condemnation of the blasts; French president Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012.
Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...
describing them as "cruel and cowardly". Alain Juppé
Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced major strikes that paralysed the coun ...
, the French foreign minister, denounced what it considered to be a "barbaric terrorist attack that nothing can justify", calling for "all light to be shed on this revolting crime, for those responsible to be found, tried and punished".
urged that the attack "must not stop the reform process that has been initiated in Morocco", referring to the ongoing "Arab Spring
The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...
".
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
said that "the United States condemns in the strongest terms today's terrorist attack that killed and injured innocent people at a cafe in Marrakesh, Morocco. We extend our deepest sympathies to the victims of this cowardly attack and stand with the people of Morocco at this difficult time."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marrakesh bombing
Attacks in Africa in 2011
Mass murder in 2011
Terrorist incidents in Morocco in 2011
21st century in Marrakesh
Improvised explosive device bombings in Africa
Islamic terrorist incidents in 2011
Explosions in Morocco
Building bombings in Africa
2011 disasters in Morocco
2011 in Morocco