State Department Releases First Benghazi Photos

The State Department for the first time released images Thursday showing the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi, Libya terror attacks.

The State Department released the photos in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the conservative organization Judicial Watch.

According to the organization, the seven images "seem to depict portions of the so-called 'Special Mission Compound' in Benghazi, including: what appears to be a burned and ransacked building; at least two burned vehicles; and Arabic graffiti with militant Islamist slogans."

A photo stamped "unclassified" from the State Department to conservative organization Judicial Watch is one of the first official images released from the Benghazi terror attacks. (Image source: Judicial Watch)

Judicial Watch first filed a FOIA request in December 2012 seeking "any and all videos and photographs" of the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi taken between Sept. 10 and Sept. 13, 2012 that were provided to the Accountability Review Board convened by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. After the State Department failed to respond to the request by February, Judicial Watch filed suit.

“The fact that it took six months and a federal lawsuit to release these few photos tells you all you need to know about the Obama administration’s Benghazi stonewall,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement provided to TheBlaze. “We now know that every video or photo, along with every additional piece of information we uncover, will tell us more about Benghazi – in contrast to the continued lies and spin coming out of the Obama administration about this atrocity.”

Judicial Watch has multiple lawsuits and requests for more Benghazi information still pending.

This post has been updated.

(H/T: CBS News)