SANAA, Dec. 15 -- A Japanese diplomat was stabbed by unknown armed men in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Sunday after he resisted a kidnapping attempt near the Japanese embassy.

The diplomat survived the attack after he managed to drive his car into the embassy, police sources told Xinhua.

The senior diplomat has been sent to hospital and is in a stable condition, a medical source said.

"The diplomat is now under security protection in the hospital, " an official of the interior ministry said, adding that a manhunt was launched to capture the perpetrator.

The assault took place in Hadda area in southern Sanaa. The armed men first intercepted the car of the diplomat while he was on the way to the embassy, and slightly collided with it.

The diplomat got off the car as it seemed a small car accident, but he was surprised when he was forced by the kidnappers at gunpoint to get into their car, according to the security official, citing witnesses.

The diplomat resisted their attempt and shouted as citizens began to gather around them. The attackers then stabbed him for several times and fled the scene, the official said.

Foreigners are frequently kidnapped in Yemen by al-Qaida militants or tribesmen who asked for ransom or for the swap for their jailed relatives. Most of the kidnapped have been freed unharmed.

Last week, the Yemeni government secured the release of a Dutch couple who were kidnapped in Sanaa in June by tribal militants.

In November, tribal gunmen shot dead a German national working as a security officer at the German embassy in Sanaa after he resisted a kidnapping attempt.