A Yemeni air raid has killed 12 suspected members of Al-Qaeda in the restive southern province of Abyan, the interior ministry said on Tuesday.

The "terrorist elements" were targeted as they travelled in one vehicle in the province's Mehfed region, the ministry said in a statement.

It said that an investigation was under way to identify the bodies of those killed in the strike.

It added that the air raid took place at the "beginning of the week," which could imply Sunday.

Air strikes targeting suspected members of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) are frequent in southern and eastern Yemen, where the group remains active despite several military campaigns.

But most fatal raids are conducted by unmanned military drones, which are only operated by US forces in the region.

Yemen is the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden and the home base of AQAP, which the United States views as the global jihadist network's most dangerous franchise.