Gunmen kidnapped a British oil-sector employee in the Yemeni capital on Monday in second abduction of a foreigner in Yemen since Friday.

Gunmen kidnapped a British oil-sector employee in the Yemeni capital on Monday in second abduction of a foreigner in Yemen since Friday.

"Gunmen in a car kidnapped the British man at around 9:00 am (0600 GMT) near a grocery store in Hada," a tightly-patrolled district in central Sanaa, the official told Agence France Presse.

The abduction comes just three days after a tribesman kidnapped in Sanaa a German citizen, with the Yemeni foreign ministry saying he is being held in a tribal region in the eastern Marib province.

It said he was abducted by a tribesman who is pressing authorities to release his two detained son in exchange for his return.

In another indication of growing unrest in the country, police said Monday that three powerful explosions rocked the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Sunday evening near the Defense Ministry and the Central Bank, witnesses said.

Sources told Reuters news agency  that heavy gunfire heard after the explosions, adding that one of the blasts occurred near the home of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, near the French embassy.

They noted that the blast was apparently due to an explosive device planted in the area.

An ambulance transported four wounded from the site, according to witnesses.