Benghazi Consulate Attack Was Terrorism, US Says

Matt Olsen, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Photo by Getty Images

The September 11 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi was in fact "a terrorist attack", with indications that al Qaeda were directly involved, according to a top US official.

"I would say yes, they were killed in the course of a terrorist attack on our embassy," Matt Olsen, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said Wednesday at a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

"We are looking at indications that individuals involved in the attack may have had connections to al Qaeda or al Qaeda's affiliates; in particular, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb," he added, as cited by Foreign Policy.

The US government is yet to determine whether the terrorist attack was pre-planned or whether it was an example of terrorists taking advantage of protests against an anti-Islam film

Last week, an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, said to be triggered by a film deemed offensive to Muslims, killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens, 3 other officers, and several Libyans.

The film, which portrays Prophet Muhammad as a religious cheat and a womanizer, has sparked violent protests in many Muslim countries and in Europe over the recent days.

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