Police officials said gunmen believed to be al-Qaida affiliates kidnapped two westerners working for the United Nations office in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Tuesday.

The two U.N. staff were kidnapped near the presidential palace in Sabeen area southeast of Sanaa, the police officials said on condition of anonymity, adding that they had no idea about their nationality.

Local media said that one of the abducted westerners is a diplomat.

Police officials told Xinhua that the armed kidnappers were driving a car, adding that they had escaped to an unknown location.

Initial investigation showed that the kidnappers are al-Qaida affiliates.

In the past two months, at least six foreigners were kidnapped in the Arab country. In February, tribesmen and al-Qaida members abducted two British nationals and a German in Sanaa.

Foreigners are frequently kidnapped in Yemen, where security situation worsened after a political upheaval that broke out in 2011 severely weakened the government control.

Most of the kidnapped foreigners have been freed unharmed. Last month, a South African woman was freed from the southern province of Abyan, but a ransom of millions of dollars was demanded for the release of her husband, according to local media.

The Yemeni government has taken efforts to stabilize the unrest- hit country by holding a national reconciliation dialogue which ended in January after a 10-month debate.