The Bulgarian Ambassador to Yemen has been slightly injured after masked gunmen opened fire at his vehicle in an attempt to kidnap him.

The news was reported early Sunday by Darik radio, citing several leading international news agencies, including Reuters and ITAR-TASS.

The diplomat, presumed to be Boris Borisov, who is the Charge d'Affaires in Yemen, had been with his wife at the time of the attack. Three armed men tried to abduct him from his vehicle. When he refused to come out and drove ahead, they opened fire at the automobile. Borisov had been injured in the eye by glass from the broken window.

The couple managed to flee to a nearby shopping center. The Yemeni security services arrived shortly after the incident. According to the report, Borisov and his wife had not been accompanied by the Embassy's security.

The people behind the attack remain unknown. Such incidents are frequent occurrence in Yemen where the hostages are used by different tribes for demands to the authorities and are often released unharmed.

At the end of April, a French citizen working for the Red Cross was kidnapped while the Deputy Consul of Saudi Arabia was abducted in March when leaving his house. Al Qaeda assumed responsibility for the latter act.