The Trump administration has announced the capture of the terrorist mastermind behind the Benghazi attack that left four Americans dead.
Zubayr Al-Bakoush was arrested and extradited to face charges in the US for leading the Islamist assault on two US government facilities in Libya in 2012.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said at a press conference on Friday: ‘Hillary Clinton famously once said about Benghazi, what difference does it make? Well it makes a difference to Donald Trump and it makes a difference to those families.’
Four Americans were killed in the raid by terror group Ansar al-Sharia: Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, Information Officer Sean Smith, and security contractors Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.
The attack was disastrous for the Obama administration which took 13 hours to send military reinforcements to Benghazi and initially downplayed the attack as a protest over an anti-Islamic video.
Then-Secretary of State Clinton was blamed for allegedly ignoring previous security requests and for privately acknowledging there had been a terrorist attack, while public messaging from the State Department focused entirely on the video narrative.
The congressional investigation into Benghazi would damage Clinton further as it led to the discovery that she was using a private email server, triggering a separate massive probe over her mishandling of classified information.
The attack on the US diplomatic compound in the Mediterranean port city in Libya took place on the the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi (C), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel (L) and U.S. Attorney for Washington, DC Jeanine Pirro make a press announcement at the Department of Justice on February 6, 2026 in Washington, DC
Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and Information Officer Sean Smith
Security contractors Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty
The U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is seen in flames during a protest by an armed group said to have been protesting a film being produced in the United States September 11, 2012
Glass, debris and overturned furniture are strewn inside a room in the gutted U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, after an attack that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens., Sept. 12, 2012
The attack came in three waves, spread over eight hours at two locations.
A few attackers scaled the wall of the diplomatic post after dark and opened a gate, allowing dozens of armed men inside.
They set the building on fire. Stevens and Smith were overcome by choking smoke in a safe room, and later died.
Hours later, a nearby CIA annex was attacked twice. Woods and Doherty died there while defending the annex from the rooftop.
A team of six security officials summoned from Tripoli and a Libyan military unit helped evacuate the remaining US personnel. They were taken to an airport and flown out of Benghazi.
The attacks have been the subject of numerous congressional investigations.
