Hamad bin Hamoud al-Tamimi, a top leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which Washington regards as among the global jihadist network's most dangerous branches, died in the strike along with a bodyguard, a security official said, requesting anonymity.

The air strike, targeting a house in the northern province of Marib that al-Tamimi had recently rented, was "apparently American", the official said.

A Marib government official, also speaking anonymously, confirmed the deaths.

Tamimi, a Saudi also known as Abdel Aziz al-Adnani, headed up AQAP's leadership council and acted as the militant group's "judge", the sources said.

The "president of the consultative council and judge, known as Abdel Aziz al-Adnani, was killed with a Yemeni bodyguard", the Marib official said.

AQAP, and rival militants loyal to the Islamic State group, have thrived in the chaos of Yemen's civil war, which pits the Saudi-backed government against Iran-allied Huthi rebels.

AQAP has carried out operations against both the Huthis and government forces as well as sporadic attacks abroad.

Its leaders have been targeted by a US drone war for more than two decades, although the number of strikes has dropped off in recent years.

The attack comes a month after three alleged AQAP militants were killed in a suspected US drone strike on a car in Marib province.