Two female Japanese tourists have been kidnapped in Yemen, local officials have said.

The two were seized by gunmen as they visited a historic dam in the town of Maarib, 176km (109 miles) east of the capital Sanaa.

Many foreign tourists or workers have been seized in recent years by tribespeople demanding better services or the release of prisoners.

Yemen has been fighting Islamist militants with the help of the US.

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Tarek Bin Laden's Red Sea bridge ... Two Belgian tourists and their guide were killed in a shooting in eastern Yemen in January.

The authorities blamed al-Qaeda militants for ambushing the Belgians as they drove through eastern Yemen.

Three policemen were killed in a bombing at a checkpoint in Maarib in January.

(BBC)

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