A Libyan security force stands guard at the m
A Libyan security force stands guard at the mAFP/File

A British security officer who was in charge of training guards in the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, has spoken to CBS news about the attack on the embassy in September 2012.

The unnamed officer, who went by the pseudonym “Morgan Jones,” admitted to being “annoyed” that his guards were not allowed to carry guns under U.S. State Department rules.

On the night of the attack, he said, he got a call from a panicked guard. When the unarmed Libyan guards confronted the attackers, they were badly beaten, but left alive.

According to Jones, the attackers told the guards, “We’re here to kill Americans, not Libyans.”

He told CBS that he could hear the gunshots in the background as the attackers invaded the mission. He managed to call an American friend, a State Department agent, who was trapped in the compound.

“I said, ‘What’s  going on?’ He said, ‘we’re getting attacked.’ I said, ‘How many?’ and he said, ‘They’re all over the compound.’ And I – I was shocked, I didn’t know what to say,” Jones said.

“And I said, ‘well, just keep fighting. I’m on my way,’” he said.

U.S. military leaders have defended their response to the 2012 assault on the consulate in Benghazi. The House Intelligence Committee accused the White House of withholding support for an FBI investigation into the attack.

The U.S. Justice Department has filed sealed criminal charges against several suspects in the Benghazi attack.

The U.S. consulate in Benghazi came under attack again this September 11, on the one-year anniversary of the previous attack, and 12 years after terrorists attacked New York City and Washington D.C., murdering thousands. The 2013 attack caused damage, but no casualties.

Less than a month later, gunmen attacked the Russian embassy in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.