U.S. and Libyan forces on Monday captured Saifallah Benahssine, the leader of Tunisia’s Islamist militant group Ansar al-Shariah, Tunisia's state news agency TAP said, citing a security source.

He was apparently captured in the Libyan city of Misrata.

Having previously fought in Afghanistan, Benahssine, also known as Abu Iyadh, had declared loyalty to al-Qaeda and was accused of inciting an attack on the U.S. embassy in Tunisia a year ago when the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed, reported the Associate Press.

Car bombs and assassinations of army and police officers are common in Libya and Benghazi in particular, where troops have clashed regularly with militants from the hardline Ansar al-Shariah.

(Developing story)
Al Arabiya