The incident took place during the early hours of Sunday, when the consul and second secretary at the Japanese embassy was stabbed five times during a failed kidnapping attempt, Press TV reported.
The Japanese mission in Yemen confirmed the attack, without providing more details.
A Yemeni security official said that the assailants fled the scene of the attack with the diplomat’s car.
The independent news website Change Net also reported that the diplomat “escaped his assailants in southern Sana’a and was later taken to hospital for treatment.”
No group has claimed responsibility for the assault. However, such incidents are usually blamed on al-Qaeda or its affiliates.
The attack came days after terrorist attacks on Yemen’s Defense Ministry complex in the capital killed more than 50 people. Officials say some of the victims were foreign nationals including medical staff from Germany, Vietnam, the Philippines and India.
On November 18, gunmen attacked security personnel near a gas terminal in the southern province of Shabwa, killing eight policemen. Gunmen also carried out three separate attacks, involving car bombings, in Shabwa, killing over 50 Yemeni soldiers in September.
Attacks against Yemeni military personnel and foreigners have been on the rise in Yemen over the past months.
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