A Tajik doctor has gone missing in central Yemen, and local media reports say she may have been abducted by tribal militants.
Gulruhsor Rofieva, who works for Russian medical company Zdravexport in the city of Marib, has been missing since the morning of October 29.
Abductions are common in Yemen, where hostages often are used by disgruntled tribesmen to press demands on authorities.
But Zdravexport employee Anvar Shamsiddinov says it is against local culture and traditions to abduct a female.
He expressed hope that Rofieva was taken to a remote settlement to provide medical assistance.
Manuchehr Avdiev, another Zdravexport employee in Yemen, told RFE/RL on October 30 that nobody had claimed responsibility for Rofieva's disappearance.
In 2011, doctors from Tajikistan and Uzbeksitan were abducted by tribal militants in central Yemen to protest air strikes against Al Qaeda militants.