A US soldier has died during a raid on an al-Qaeda militant base in central Yemen, according to officials.

It marks the first-known combat death of a U.S. military member since President Donald Trump took office with the promise of pursuing "aggressive joint and coalition military operations" to wipe out terror groups.

The unnamed soldier was described by the US President as "heroic" after losing his life in a pre-dawn raid on Sunday during what Trump described as the "fight against the evil of radical Islamic terrorism."

U.S. Central Command confirmed that three service members were wounded in the raid and a fourth one was injured in a "hard landing" in a nearby location. They also said 14 militants from al-Qaeda's Yemen branch were killed in the assault.

Al-Qaeda officials told AP that 30 men, women and children were also killed in the raid.