A woman has kidnapped a man in Yemen in a rare incident in the war-devastated country, a local newspaper reported.

An alleged police statement circulated on the Internet says the man, identified as Mubarak Sultan, was kidnapped by the woman, named Taghred Ghalib on February 7 in Yemen’s south west governorate of Taiz.

In the statement dated February 16, the chief of Taiz’s Criminal Search Department ordered the head of a local police station to secure the release of the man and arrest the perpetrators.

The news portal Aden Al Ghad, citing local sources, said the woman is an ex-wife of Taghreed who has abducted him after he married another woman.

Sultan was kidnapped with the assistance from the ex-wife’s brothers as he was walking on a street and was taken to an unknown place, the report said.

His family unsuccessfully tried to secure his release through local mediators, it added.