[4] Attanasio started his diplomatic career outside Italy in 2006, serving as the Economic and Commercial Office at the Italian Embassy in Bern (2006–2010) and the Regent Consul General in Casablanca (2010–2013).

The company Trevi Fondazioni was then negotiating a cooperation agreement with Morocco for infrastructure contracts around Casablanca and he facilitated the transaction.

[10] At 10:30 am on 22 February 2021,[2] a World Food Programme (WFP) convoy of three vehicles, carrying a total of seven people,[11] including Attanasio, was attacked by six armed individuals.

[17] As local security forces were arriving at the scene following the report of shots fired, the gunmen killed 30-year-old carabiniere Vittorio Iacovacci and mortally wounded Attanasio.

[19] The state funerals for both Attanasio and Iacovacci were held on 25 February 2021, at the Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in Rome.

[24] On 19 January 2022, police in the DRC announced they had arrested six members of a highway robbers' gang suspected of killing Attanasio.

[25] According to a report from Le journal de l'Afrique, Attanasio's assassination was a revenge by his former partners, members of the March 23 Movement (M23) headed by Jean-Marie Runiga, for unfulfilled trade promises.

[27] Baraa Al Obeidi, imam of Milan's Maria Mosque, said Attanasio should be considered a martyr by the Muslim community, as he was an innocent killed due to his humanitarian work.