An American language teacher has been shot dead in Yemen.

Security officials say one of two men on a motorcycle opened fire on the teacher in his car Sunday in the city of Taez. The gunmen escaped. Officials say the victim was the deputy director of a language school in Yemen called the Swedish Institute.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack, but local officials say the incident appears to be the work of al-Qaida.

The killing comes three days after a Swiss language teacher was kidnapped in Yemen's port town of Hodeida. It is not clear who abducted the woman, and there is no apparent motive.

Yemen has fallen into chaos since last year when protests forced then president Ali Abdullah Saleh to flee the country. Al-Qaida militants have taken advantage of the situation and seized control of a number of towns.

In another development Sunday, Yemeni forces fired missiles at Islamic militants in two towns controlled by al-Qaida.

It is not clear if there were any casualties from the strikes on Zinjubar and Jaar.