ISIS leader and Benghazi attack suspect killed in airstrike

Ali Awni al-Harzi, an Islamic State battlefield commander and a key suspect in the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Mosul, Iraq, on June 15, U.S. military officials said.

"Al-Harzi operated closely with multiple ISIL-associated extremists throughout North Africa and the Middle East," said Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman. "His death degrades ISIL's ability to integrate North African jihadists into the Syrian and Iraqi fight and removes a jihadist with long ties to international terrorism." The U.S. government refers to ISIS as ISIL.

A U.S. official told ABC News that al-Harzi was targeted because of his leadership position in ISIS. The Tunisian was an early person of interest in the Benghazi attack, which killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. His brother, Tariq Bin-al-Tahar Bin al Falih al-'Awni al-Harzi, is a senior ISIS leader with a $3 million reward on his head through the State Department's Rewards for Justice program.

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