A US citizen was killed in Baghdad on Monday, according to Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani.
A US State Department spokesman confirmed on Tuesday that American Stephen Edward Troell died in Baghdad, noting that “they are closely following the investigation by local authorities into the cause of death.”
“The timing of the assassination of an American citizen in Baghdad raises questions,” al-Sudani said on Monday, adding: “Security is a red line.”
Two gunmen attacked a vehicle Troell was driving in downtown Baghdad, security sources told CNN. Troell suffered serious injuries in the attack and was taken to a nearby hospital for medical attention, but later succumbed to his injuries.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the murder.
Iraq’s Foreign Ministry said Baghdad security authorities are investigating the attack.
Troell had been living in Baghdad for two years and had worked for a civil society organization that taught Iraqis English.
“It is with great sadness and sorrow that we bid farewell to our beloved Stephen Troell, who has always loved Iraq and its people and sought to serve them,” the Global English Institute Baghdad, where Troell worked, said in a statement Tuesday.
US Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski expressed her thanks on Twitter Tuesday to the “Iraqi people for their messages of support following the brutal murder of Steven Troell last night in Baghdad.”
“I was here in a private capacity doing what I loved: working (with) the Iraqi people. My deepest condolences to his wife and young children,” Romanowski wrote.
The State Department spokesman said US officials “stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance” following the incident.