The attacks underscore the challenges facing President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi who took office last month after a year of massive protests against his predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh.
A police source in Taiz said a gunman riding on the motorcycle driven by an accomplice shot a US English language teacher who was also deputy director of a language school, the Swedish Institute.
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, the police source said. A group affiliated with the militant network claimed responsibility.
“This operation comes as a response to the campaign of Christian proselytizing that the West has launched against Muslims,” an unidentified person said in a text message to journalists, claiming responsibility on behalf of the Al-Qaeda-linked Ansar Al-Shariah.
Yemen has seen an escalation of Al-Qaeda violence since Hadi took office in February vowing to fight the Islamist network.
Taiz, 200 km south of Sanaa, is a commercial hub where many foreigners live and work. It was a flashpoint for protests against former Saleh’s 33-year rule.
Also yesterday, a government warplane bombed militants in the southern city of Jaar, causing people to flee their homes, residents said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
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.
Daily clashes break out around areas controlled by militants in southern Yemen. A local official said that up to 14 militants were killed in artillery attacks and clashes on Saturday north of the Abyan provincial capital of Zinjibar, the area of Bagdar and the town of Jaar.
The United States and Saudi Arabia are concerned about Al-Qaeda’s expansion in Yemen where it has regrouped after suffering reverses in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
In early March, militants killed more than 110 soldiers in twin suicide attacks and said they had also captured some 70 soldiers.
