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![Yemen has been rocked by violence and attacks on security forces in recent years [Xinhua]](http://thebricspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/214813671_8-300x188.jpg)
Yemen has been rocked by violence and attacks on security forces in recent years [Xinhua]
“Ahmed Nour Ahmed, the cultural counselor at the Iranian embassy was snatched early Sunday by gunmen from Hadda area in downtown Sanaa,” a source from the embassy told Chinese news agency Xinhua.
Abductions of foreigners spiked after the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh more than two years ago. Since then a growing separatist movement threatening to divide the country and an Islamist uprising has challenged the government’s legitimacy.
Tribes or disenfranchised armed groups often kidnap foreigners to pressure the government into concessions – to free jailed tribesmen, for example. Most of the kidnapped have been freed unharmed.
Last month, a Dutch journalist and her husband, and two South Africans were kidnapped in Sanaa and the central province of Taiz.
They have not yet been released.
A Finnish couple and one Austrian who were kidnapped by tribesmen on December 2012 were released to Omani authorities in late May 2013.
Source: Agencies
