El-Baneh, a Lackawanna, N.Y., native and high school senior, went to Yemen a month ago for an arranged marriage. She was the only American killed in the attack, CNN reported Thursday.

She and her husband were in the waiting area of the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa to find out about the procedure to bring her spouse back to the United States.

CNN reported that local officials said al-Qaida-linked insurgents disguised as Yemeni forces bombed the outer wall of the U.S. Embassy, and snipers opened fire on first responders heading to the blast site.

Susan El-Baneh had traveled to Yemen with her younger brother and mother.

"She was so excited, so happy to be getting married," her brother, Ahmed El-Baneh, said. "She was going to go there and try and bring her new husband back to the United States after paperwork was done and then complete her last year of high school."