On Thursday officials at the Defence Ministry confirmed in a statement published on September 26’s website (the mouthpiece of the ministry) that two wannabe abductors were gunned down by their victim, a foreign national, when he resisted assault.
The report read, “Two armed men tried to kidnap a foreign citizen as he was leaving a barber in Hadda Street in Sanaa … But he was able to resist and shot them with a revolver he had in his possession.”
According to witnesses’ account the foreign national, a Russian oil expert was approached by two unidentified armed men as he was stepping out from a Barber shop on the very popular Hadda Street in what has been identified as an attempted kidnapping by the authorities.
While not all details have been confirmed it appears the Russian national immediately understood that his two interlocutors were up to when told to follow them for questioning. Keen to defend himself he pulled a gun on his attackers and didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.
Security sources have said that the two alleged abductors are tribesmen from Marib (restive southern province of Yemen). It is important to note that the Yemen Post could not independently verify such allegations.
That being said, since Marib tribesmen have in recent weeks taken into the habit of kidnapping foreign workers to use as leverage in their negotiations with state officials, it could well be the Russian oil expert had been tagged as a desirable target by a tribal leader.
Earlier in April a Uzbek doctor was kidnapped in Marib, months after a German doctor was abducted by Marin tribesmen (February)