A U.S. drone strike has hit a convoy heading to a wedding party in Yemen, killing at least 13 people, officials said, according to the Associated Press.

The attack took place in the Yemeni city of Radda, the capital of Bayda province. The city is known as a stronghold of al Qaeda militants.

Yemeni officials said the convoy was heading to a wedding in the village of Qaifa when it was hit by the drone, and that the strike left charred bodies in the road and vehicles on fire.

One official said that al Qaeda militants are suspected to have been travelling with the wedding convoy.

The U.S. considers Yemen's al Qaeda branch to be among the most active in the world.

A military official said initial information indicated the drone mistook the wedding party for an al Qaeda convoy. He said tribesmen known to the villagers were among the dead.

While the U.S. acknowledges its drone programme in Yemen, it does not usually talk about individual strikes.

If further investigations determine that the victims were all civilians, the attack could fuel an outburst of anger against the United States and the government in Sanaa among a Yemeni public already opposed to the drone strikes.