adminBENGHAZI. — An American teacher with International School Benghazi was gunned down in Libya as he took his morning jog yesterday, a week before he was to return home on holiday, officials and the school said.
Ronnie Smith (33) from Texas had been running in the central Al-Fwihet neighbourhood of the eastern city of Benghazi when he was shot, security services spokesman Ibrahim al-Sharaa said.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the killing, which comes 15 months after the US ambassador and three other Americans were killed in an attack on the US consulate in Libya’s second city.
The State Department confirmed that a US citizen had been shot and killed in Benghazi.
“We offer our condolences to the victim’s loved ones. We are in contact with the family and are providing all appropriate consular assistance,” deputy spokesperson Marie Harf said.
Smith’s killing triggered an outpouring of emotion on social media networks.
International School Benghazi is one of the few foreign schools still operating in Libya, with most having shut down last year and earlier this year because of the growing lack of security.
In other violence in the increasingly lawless eastern city yesterday, two Libyan soldiers were shot dead in separate incidents, the latest of dozens of security personnel to be gunned down in recent weeks, security officials said. — AFP.
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