United States Special Forces launched a pre-dawn security raid on Sunday in central Yemen, killing more than 12 civilians and eight al-Qaida militants, including senior commanders, military sources told Xinhua.

The surprise operation took place in the rural district of Yakla in al-Bayda province, the sources said on condition of anonymity.

A senior al-Qaida leader, Abdul-Raoof Dhahab, his two brothers, and five other terrorists were killed in the operation, which was carried out in cooperation with local authorities, said the sources who are based in the province.

Another medical source, who also demanded anonymity, told Xinhua by phone that 12 civilians, including four women and three children, were also killed in the operation.

Residents near the scene told Xinhua that "four military planes participated in the operation and kept hovering over the village for hours."

A source at Yemen's intelligence agency confirmed to Xinhua that helicopter-borne commandos raided houses held by al-Qaida leaders and that a firefight broke out and continued for several minutes in the area.

Some American soldiers were injured in the raid on the ground, the intelligence source said.

Yemen's central province of al-Bayda, where dozens of al-Qaida members are believed to be based, has been the focus of American-led airstrikes.

Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional al-Qaida insurgencies in the Middle East.

The Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), also known locally as "Ansar al-Sharia," emerged in January 2009, claiming responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks against Yemen's army and governmental institutions.

The AQAP and Islamic State-linked terrorists, taking advantage of the security vacuum and ongoing civil war, managed to expand their influence and seize more territories in southern Yemen.

Security in Yemen has deteriorated further since March 2015, when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and government forces backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

Over 10,000 people have been killed in ground battles and airstrikes since then, many of them civilians.

source: Xinhua