A drone strike on a house killed three Al-Qaeda suspects in the restive Yemeni province of Marib on Saturday, a security official said.

The United States is the only country operating drones over Yemen, but U.S. officials rarely acknowledge the covert program.

The strike "targeted a house in Marib... killing three Al-Qaeda militants and wounding two women," the official in the south-central province told AFP.

No details were immediately available on the identities of the suspects, targeted one day after Al-Qaeda militants abducted and executed 15 soldiers in the southeastern province of Hadramawt.

In April, a U.S. and Yemeni aerial campaign in Yemen killed at least 68 Al-Qaeda militants, as part of efforts to head off attacks by the jihadist network's regional affiliate.