Witnesses said the aircraft crashed after it hit a mountain near the city of Beihan in the southern Yemeni Shabwa province.
A local official confirmed the aircraft crashed after it struck Shoab Mountain near Beihan and said that Yemeni troops and members of a local militia allied with the government quickly surrounded the area of the crash to keep onlookers away.
The United States regularly uses drones to attack militants in countries such as Yemen as part of a strategy to combat al-Qaeda militants without committing troops on the ground, Reuters reported.
Washington acknowledges using drones in Yemen but does not comment publicly on the practice. Yemen is home of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which is believed to be among the most active wings of the network founded by Osama bin Laden.