First Official Benghazi Pictures Released to Judicial Watch

The State Department has released the first photos showing the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attacks on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya.

The disclosure came after the department was sued in February by the government watchdog, Judicial Watch, which had filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the information that went unanswered.

Judicial Watch said in a press release Friday that the seven photos it received June 6 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.

"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," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

"We 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."

The group initially called on the government to release any and all videos and photos of the Benghazi facility between September 10, 2012 and September 13, 2012 after it became aware the documents were reviewed by the independent Accountability Review Board appointed by the State Department to investigate the attack that left four Americans dead.

In a May 31 letter sent to Judicial Watch,  State Department official Sheryl Walter said the decision to release the photographs overturned a decision not to that had been announced just nine days earlier.