Islamic militants are claiming responsibility for gunning down an American language teacher Sunday in Yemen, accusing him of spreading Christianity.

Two gunmen on a motorcycle shot Joel Strum to death in his car in Taez.

It is unclear if the gunmen are affiliated with al-Qaida. The militant group took advantage of the chaos since President Ali Abdullah Saleh resigned in November to seize control of a number of towns.

The school where Strum taught, the International Training Development Center, denies that he was pushing Christianity.