An American teacher was shot and killed in Yemen early today. It was reported that two gunmen came upon his car and shot the man, who was working at the Swedish Training Institute in a central Yemeni city. The region’s provincial governor, Hamoud al-Sufi, said that the teacher was killed in Taez city. He went on to say that an investigation is ongoing, and they do not currently have details on the killers.
MSNBC reported that the victim’s first name is Joel, and his last name is either Sharm, Shrun, or Wesley. He worked at the Institute, which is supported by both the Swedish government as well as religious groups. An al-Qaeda linked group immediately claimed responsibility for the slaying, saying that he was murdered due to “Christian proselytizing.”
A State Department spokesman said of the tragedy that, “We condemn this heinous crime in the strongest terms and express our deepest condolences to his family and friends.”
The group, Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law) claimed responsibility through aan anonymous text message to journalists, which read, “This operation comes as a response to the campaign of Christian proselytizing that the West has launched against Muslims.”
Al-Qaeda has been taking advantage of the change in government, which took place last month when former president Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down, and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi took office. Taez was a highly contested area during the uproar that followed, and two of the cities farther south are reportedly in al-Qaeda control.
The group has spent the last month staging attacks on the Yemeni police and military, with the latest attack killing more than 150 soldiers. The United States, as well as Saudi Arabia (Yemen’s neighbor) have been keeping a close eye on Yemen, and al-Qaeda’s expansion in the Islamic state, where the group fled to after suffering in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Do you think that the U.S. should be concerned about al-Qaeda’s growing support in Yemen?
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