SANAA: An Iranian diplomat was killed in Yemen’s capital Sanaa on Saturday when he resisted gunmen who were trying to kidnap him near the ambassador’s residence, the Iranian Foreign Ministry and Yemeni security sources said.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham told Fars News Agency the diplomat was seriously injured when he resisted his attackers and was taken to a Sanaa hospital, where he died.

“We are seriously following up the dimensions of this terrorist action with the relevant Yemeni government officials,” Afkham said.

Security sources in Yemen told Reuters the diplomat was traveling in a car belonging to the Iranian Embassy, but the ambassador was not in the car at the time of the attack.

The gunmen fled, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility, they said.

Kidnapping of foreigners in Yemen is common, often carried out by disgruntled tribesmen seeking to press the government to free jailed relatives or to improve public services, or by militants linked to Al-Qaeda.

The country, in turmoil since a popular uprising ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011, is also facing southern secessionists and an economic crisis.