Benghazi attackDetails, timeline of attack on Benghazi compound emerge

All the details about the attack Tuesday which killed four at the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi are not yet available, and also unknown is the identity of the attackers and the organization to which they belong. From press reports, however, it is possible to reconstruct the broad outline of the assault.

At 10 p.m. Benghazi time, which is 4 p.m. EST, the U.S. compound began to take fire from unidentified Libyans. That compound has a main building, several “ancillary” buildings, and an annex.

Fox News reports that at about 10:15 the attackers broke into the compound and began firing into the main building. The building was soon engulfed in flames.

There were three people inside the main building when the attack — Ambassador Stevens, department official Sean Smith, and a regional security officer. As the attackers shot their way into the building, and flames and smoke filled the hallways, the three men became separated.

The security officer managed to find his way out of the building, but soon returned to look for Stevens and Smith. He found Smith already dead, having been shot by the assailants. He could not locate Stevens, though, and forced out of the building by the thickening smoke and the incessant shooting.

A few minutes later, at 10:45 p.m., more security personnel joined the regional security officer in an effort to enter the main building, but were repelled by the blazing fire. They returned to the annex.

At 11:20, accompanied military and police, they tried again to enter the main building to search for Stevens and other compound employees. They managed to get all the remaining Americans from the ancillary buildings into the annex, but could not find Stevens.

About half an hour later, around midnight, the annex too came under sustained fire from the assailants. The attack on the annex lasted for two hours, and resulted in two more Americans dead.

Finally, about 2 a.m., a large number of Libyan security forces managed to gain control of the compound and lead the Americans to safety.

At the same time, and without the knowledge of the American diplomatic personnel, the Libyan forces which entered the main building found Stevens and rushed him to hospital in Benghazi.

It is not clear what condition Stevens was in. “We do not have any information what his condition was at that time,” a U.S. official told Fox News.

U.S. officials did not see Stevens body until about 7:00 a.m., when it was returned to the Benghazi airport and flown to Tripoli with most of the other diplomats.

There are conflicting reports about the cause of his death, with some Libyans saying he died as a result of smoke inhalation, while others say he was in relatively good shape when he was found in the compound’s main building, but was shot dead in the car that took him to the hospital by one of the assailants, who noticed the Libyan forces’ attempt to whisk him out.

The attack raises questions about security arrangements at the compound. Any building can be damaged if fired upon by a RPGs, but the relative ease with which the assailants managed to enter the compound, and then shoot their way from building to building, suggests that there were not enough security guards to protect the compound, or that they were not equipped to withstand and repel the assault.

A second question has to do with the security arrangements between the United States and Libya. It is not clear why it took the Libyan government – or the local police – nearly four hours to respond: the assault began at 10:00 p.m., but Libyan units did not arrive in force until 2:00 a.m.

When the Libyan security forces finally arrived, they easily regained control of the compound and chased the assailants away. Why these forces did not arrive within minutes of attack is a questions that should be addressed.