A young soldier participating in operations against Al-Qaeda in Yemen murdered three militant detainees who confessed to killing his colonel father, a security source said on Sunday.

The soldier, a member of Yemen's government intelligence services, carried out the killings “suddenly and without the consent of his colleagues” during an interrogation on Saturday, the source said.

According to the source, the soldier's colleagues were “angered” by the killings, but he did not face repercussions.

Tribal leaders confirmed the revenge killings to AFP.

The detainees were captured during a military operation last week in the district of Wadea in Abyan province, a stronghold of Al-Qaeda in southern Yemen.

The soldier's colonel father, whose name was not disclosed for security reasons, was assassinated in Wadea early last month.

Yemeni forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition on Thursday managed to drive Al-Qaeda militants from Wadea, which is symbolic as the birthplace of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which the United States views as the network's most dangerous branch, has exploited more than two years of conflict between Hadi's government and Shia Houthi rebels who control the capital to expand its presence.