An apparent US drone strike killed five Al-Qaeda suspects in the southeastern stronghold of the terrorist group in Mukalla.

An apparent US drone strike killed five Al-Qaeda suspects in the southeastern stronghold of the terrorist group in Mukalla, a government official said Thursday.

"A drone targeted a house where Al-Qaeda militants were gathered for a meeting, destroying it and killing all five inside" late on Wednesday, AFP said citing the local official, who asked to remain anonymous.

Adding to Saudi Arabia and the military coalition launching war on Yemen, the United States is the only country known to operate armed drones over the country.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), viewed by Washington as the network's most dangerous branch, has taken advantage of the Saudi-US war on Yemen to seize Mukalla, capital of the vast desert province of Hadramawt.

Four other suspected Al-Qaeda militants were killed in a similar raid on Saturday in Mukalla.

The group said in June that its leader in Yemen, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, had been killed in a drone strike.

The coalition of Arab states - supported by the US - has been carrying out air strikes against the national military and the Popular Committees in Yemen since March, but has so far not intervened against Al-Qaeda or other terrorist operating groups.