GUNMEN linked to Al-Qaeda have shot and killed an American teacher in the Yemeni city of Taiz, claiming he was trying to spread Christianity in the Muslim country.
The English language teacher, who was deputy director of a Swedish language centre, was shot in his car by a passenger on a motorcycle, security officials said.
Officials from the institute identified the victim as Joel Shrun and said he was born in 1983.
The gunmen, who escaped after the attack, were believed to be linked to Al-Qaeda, a police source said. In a statement, the group, known as the Fighters of Ansar al-Sharia, or Partisans of Sharia, said it "killed an American Christian missionary".
"The attack is in response to a western campaign to preach for Christianity among Muslims," it said.
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It was the second incident targeting a language school teacher after suspected militants captured a Swiss woman in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah and moved her to the province of Shabwa, according to Yemeni officials.
Taiz, about 120 miles south of the capital Sana'a, was a flashpoint for opposition protests that forced Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former president, to step down after 33 years, but has had little Al-Qaeda violence.
The local group is, however, active in the south and east of the country and there has been an upsurge in violence since President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi took power last month vowing to fight the group.
A government warplane today bombed Islamist militants in the southern city of Jaar, causing people to flee their homes, residents said.
Ansar al-Sharia captured Jaar in Abyan province in March last year after the outbreak of protests against Saleh and have turned it into their main base in southern Yemen.
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Daily clashes break out around areas controlled by militants in southern Yemen. An official said up to 14 militants were killed in artillery attacks and clashes yesterday north of the Abyan provincial capital of Zinjibar, the area of Bagdar and the town of Jaar.
The United States and Saudi Arabia, Yemen's neighbour and the world's biggest oil exporter, are concerned about Al-Qaeda's expansion in Yemen where it has regrouped after suffering reverses in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.