Unidentified armed men stabbed a Japanese diplomat in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Sunday when he resisted a kidnapping attempt in front of his house, a security source told Reuters.
The source added that the Japanese diplomat was in a stable condition in a local hospital, and that he had been stabbed in the hand with a dagger by the armed men. According to the source, his bodyguard was also injured in the attack, Reuters reported.
Sunday's attempted kidnapping was the latest in a series of attacks on foreigners in the impoverished Gulf state, where the government is struggling to restore order and stability since and since a power transfer deal in late 2011 saw former President Ali Abdullah Saleh step aside, according to Reuters.
Besides being the base for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, widely considered the most dangerous branch of the militant Sunni group, Yemen is also struggling to control violent attacks against its security forces, a northern rebellion and southern seccesionists.