Washington (dpa) – The US State Department on Monday confirmed the killing of US citizen Joel Wesley Shrum in Yemen. He was shot dead on Sunday by two assailants in southern Yemen, according to reports from the country. Shrum was driving to a language institute, where he taught and served as deputy manager, when the gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on his vehicle in the city of Taiz. No group had claimed responsibility for the shooting. “We condemn this terrorist act in strongest terms, and we express our deepest condolences to his family and his friends,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Monday in Washington. “We are in contact with the family, and we are providing consular assistance, and we are urging Yemeni authorities to bring to justice those responsible for this heinous crime.” She said that US embassy officials in Sana'a were assisting Shrum's family with arrangements to repatriate his remains. Militant groups with suspected links to the terrorist network al-Qaeda are believed to have strengthened their foothold in southern Yemen, taking advantage of a year of protests against Ali Abdullah Saleh, who agreed in November to step down as president after 33 years in power. Saleh's vice president and successor, Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi, who was sworn in last month as president, has vowed to fight al-Qaeda, calling it a “religious and national duty.” BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/9UMCo Tags: Murder, Shooting, State, United States, Yemen Section: Latest News, North America, Yemen
