U.S. eyes al-Qaida affiliate in Libya consulate attack

The top U.S. counterterrorism official said at a Senate hearing on Wednesday that the American government is investigating a series of conversations that al-Qaida’s North African affiliate had with a local militant group in Benghazi, Libya, on the day that violent protests broke out in Cairo and the U.S. consulate in Benghazi was attacked, multiple news organizations report.

National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olsen told senators that the assault on the consulate was a “terrorist attack,” and that it may be that both local militants and an al-Qaida affiliate were involved, according to The Wall Street Journal.