The official, who declined to be named, told AFP the suspects were in an armoured car on the road between Qatan and Khashgha when it was struck.

It was the third such anti-Qaeda strike in Hadramawt province this week, following attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday that left seven dead.

The United States is the only country that has drones in the region and it has stepped up its strikes on Al-Qaeda targets in the Arabian Peninsula state.

Al-Qaeda took advantage of a nearly year-long uprising which led to president Ali Abdullah Saleh stepping down in February to seize large swathes of south and east Yemen.

Al-Qaeda loyalists have carried out a spate of deadly attacks against Yemeni security forces and their militia allies since President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi came to power earlier this year pledging to crush the militants.

In an all-out offensive launched in May, the army retook a string of towns in Abyan province of southern Yemen.