U.S. Ambassador To Libya, Three Other Americans, Killed In Benghazi Attack

The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three of his staff members were killed in a an attack on the American consulate in the country's eastern city of Benghazi, the White House confirmed Wednesday.

The deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and the other embassy employees killed came after an angry mob surrounded the Benghazi consulate to protest a film ridiculing Islam's Prophet Muhammad that has been promoted by an extreme anti-Muslim Egyptian Christian campaigner in the United States.

The mob was armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades, according to the Associated Press, but it was not immediately clear how the ambassador or the others were killed.

"I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens," President Obama said in a statement Wednesday morning.

Stevens was among a group of embassy employees who had gone to the consulate earlier to help evacuate staff there as the building came under attack by the armed mob, the AP reports.

In Egypt, hundreds of people protesting the film breached the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Tuesday, tearing down and replacing the American flag with a black Islamic banner.

In his statement, President Obama said Stevens and the others killed "exemplified America's commitment to freedom, justice, and partnership with nations and people around the globe, and stand in stark contrast to those who callously took their lives."

"I have directed my Administration to provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe," the president said. "While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants."

We will update with more information as it comes in ...

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