Inside a safe room of the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, Ambassador Chris Stevens took cover with two other foreign service officers. Just minutes earlier, a group of heavily armed militants launched an attack on the complex, pelting it with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades. The attackers ignited a fire in the building and the safe room was filling with smoke. Six things to know about the attack Stevens, Foreign Service information management officer Sean Smith and a U.S. regional security officer would soon be forced to leave their temporary refuge from the assault. Senior administration officials called the conditions inside "awful," describing "incredibly thick smoke and fire."
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The attack began after protesters began massing outside the consulate
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A small group of militants opened fire on the complex and gained entry
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The militants set fire to the main building with the U.S. ambassador still inside
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Control was regained more than four hours later
And both the governments of the United States and Libya, on this "very, very difficult day," mourned the loss of Stevens, who had helped save @placeholder during last year's revolution.