Al-Qaida claims killing of US teacher

Al-Qaida in Yemen has claimed responsibility for the killing of an American teacher.

A statement, posted on a militant website, accuses the 29-year-old Joel Shrum of Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, of seeking converts in the mainly Muslim Arab nation.

Shrum, who was gunned down on Sunday, had been living in the central city of Taiz with his wife and two sons.

He was learning Arabic and teaching English at a language institute.