Americas

Americas

U.S. condemns killing of American citizen in Yemen

20 March 2012 01:41 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The United States on Monday condemned the killing of an American citizen in Yemen and called for justice in this "terrorist act", APA reports quoting Xinhua

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland confirmed that Joel Wesley Shrum, an American working at an English-language institute in Yemen’s second largest city of Taiz, was shot dead on Sunday morning.

"We condemn this terrorist act in strongest terms, and we express our deepest condolences to his family and his friends," Nuland said at a regular news briefing.

"We are urging Yemeni authorities to bring to justice those responsible for this heinous crime," she said, noting the State Department was aiding Shrum’s family in repatriating his remains.

Shrum was on his way to work when he was shot dead by two armed men on a motorbike. Yemen’s Defense Ministry said security forces were hunting for suspected al-Qaida gunmen.