At least eight people have lost their lives in an airstrike by a US unmanned aerial vehicle in southern Yemen, security sources say.

According to the sources, the drone hit two vehicles carrying the eight, who were claimed to be suspected al-Qaeda militants in Yemen's southern province of Shabwah late on Tuesday.

Reports said six of the militants had been killed instantly while two died of their wounds later

A second airstrike missed two other cars in the same area.

The US carries out drone attacks in Yemen and several other countries, including Pakistan and Afghanistan. Washington claims its drones target al-Qaeda militants, but local sources say civilians have been the main victims of the attacks.

The drone attacks in Yemen have continued alongside the Saudi military aggression against the Arab country.

Yemeni people and rescue workers search for victims amid the rubble of a destroyed building following Saudi airstrikes on a funeral site in the Yemeni capital Sana’a on October 8, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Yemen has seen almost daily military attacks by Saudi Arabia since late March 2015, with the UN putting the toll at 10,000. The offensive was launched to crush the Houthi Ansarullah movement and its allies and reinstate the resigned president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Jamie McGoldrick said in August that the death toll from the Saudi military aggression could rise even further as some areas had no medical facilities, and that people were often buried without any official record being made.