Military-style tactics in US consulate siege

Washington: The heavily armed extremists who laid siege to the US Consulate in Libya used military-style tactics that may have steered Americans toward a waiting ambush, US officials said on Friday as they pieced together details about how the compound was overrun.

US intelligence indicates that 50 or more people, many of them masked, were responsible for the September 11 assault on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi. Gun trucks provided added firepower. The attackers set up a perimeter, controlling access in and out of the compound. A first wave of attacks sent the Americans fleeing to a fallback building, where a second group of extremists beset them with precise mortar fire.

Intelligence reports were still coming in, but officials told The Associated Press that what may have initially seemed like a protest over an anti-Islam movie that had spun out of control now showed the hallmarks of a more sophisticated operation.

The attacks killed Ambassador Chris Stevens, diplomat Sean Smith and two former Navy SEALs, who US officials said were security officers guarding diplomatic officials. Stevens was visiting Benghazi from Tripoli to preside over the opening of an “American Space” cultural center.

Wanis Al Sharif, who was Libya’s deputy interior minister until he was fired after the attacks, said a small group of lightly armed gunmen were the first to gather outside the compound. They were then joined by a crowd of civilians protesting the film. Finally, a larger group of heavily armed men arrived with gun vehicles and grenade launchers. That final group was responsible for the siege.

The attackers stormed the main building and set it on fire. One US official described the militants striking the front of the building first, distracting security, while a second group struck then from the rear. Many people escaped and fled to an annex to the east.

About an hour after the assault began, American and Libyan forces retook control of the compound and brought everyone to the annex. Rescue teams headed their way.

Intelligence indicates the gunmen broke off into teams to block certain roads away from the compound, officials said. Whether that changed the route or otherwise influenced how the Americans moved through the streets remains unclear, but one US official said the tactic was being looked at as an indication of battlefield strategy and sophistication.

As the Americans waited to be rescued from the annex, that building came under mortar fire. Mortars are short-range bombs that launch in high arcs. Aiming them can be a matter of trial and error. But US officials said mortars were landing directly on the roof of the annex.

That, officials said, indicated an experienced fighter, a well-planned assault or both.