IS suspect involved in Benghazi attack killed: US

al-Harzi was one of the first ‘foreign fighters’ to join the Islamic State group.

Shi'ite volunteers patrol the area as they secure it against the predominantly Sunni militants from the Islamic State, previously called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), in the desert region between Kerbala and Najaf, south of Baghdad, July 3, 2014. Iraqi insurgents are preparing for an assault on Baghdad, with sleeper cells planted inside the capital to rise up at "Zero Hour" and aid fighters pushing in from the outskirts, according to senior Iraqi and U.S. security officials. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT)

An Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) operative, suspected of involvement in the >2012  attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi , was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq, the Pentagon said.

“Ali Awni al-Harzi operated closely with multiple ISIL extremists throughout North Africa and the Middle East,” Defence Department Spokesperson Col. Steve Warren said.

“His death degrades ISIL’s ability to integrate North African jihadists into the Syrian and Iraqi fight and removed a jihadist of long ties with international terrorism.” al-Harzi, a Tunisian national, was killed last week in Mosul, which fell to Islamic State forces a year ago, he added.

California Representative Adam Schiff, also the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said “al-Harzi was responsible for planning hundreds of suicide attacks across the world and was one of the first ‘foreign fighters’ to join the Islamic State group. He was also responsible for recruiting foreign fighters and sending them to the fight in Syria.”

The >September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. outpost in Benghazi killed four Americans, including U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens. The State Department designated al-Harzi a global terrorist in April.

Published - June 23, 2015 10:48 am IST