The Benghazi attack took place on the night of September 11, 2012, and continued into the early hours of September 12, 2012, in Benghazi, Libya.

Quick Scoop

  • The attack began late in the evening of September 11, 2012, when armed militants assaulted the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi.
  • A second phase of the violence targeted a nearby CIA annex in the early hours of September 12, 2012.
  • In U.S. politics and news coverage, it is commonly referred to as the “2012 Benghazi attack,” tied to the date September 11–12, 2012.

In many forum discussions and news retrospectives, when people ask “when was the Benghazi attack” , they’re specifically referring to that night of September 11, 2012, during the later phase of the Libyan conflict and the broader post–Arab Spring period.

TL;DR: The Benghazi attack happened on the night of September 11–12, 2012, in Benghazi, Libya.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.