Sanaa , Yemen ( CNN ) -- U.S. airstrikes targeted militant hideouts and arms caches in separate attacks over three days in Yemen , killing at least 64 suspected al Qaeda insurgents before the strikes ended Sunday , senior Yemeni officials told CNN . Officials at U.S. Central Command and the Defense Department contacted Sunday provided no information on the purported attacks . U.S. officials rarely discuss the drone program , though privately they have said covert strikes using drones are legal and an effective tactic in the fight against extremists . The latest strike involved at least five U.S. drones and took place in the Jabal Khanfar region of Jaar , located in southern Abyan province , two senior Yemeni security officials said . At least six suspected al Qaeda militants were killed , Yemeni officials said . A member of the military committee -- Yemen 's highest security authority -- confirmed that strike , and said the Yemeni government was given no advance warning of it . `` The United States did not inform us on the attacks . We only knew about this after the U.S. attacked , '' the committee member told CNN . The strike was the third such attack on suspected al Qaeda targets in less than three days , according to Yemeni officials . The United States was also involved in two other major attacks on Friday and Saturday , which killed at least 58 suspected al Qaeda insurgents , two senior Yemeni defense ministry officials said . The Friday airstrikes occurred in the Yemen province of al-Baitha in areas used as launching pads for militant attacks . The second attack took place in the towns of Jaar and Zinjibar in Abyan province . One of the ministry officials said the attacks happened late in the day , when Yemeni air forces are not capable and trained to conduct such operations . Earlier , separate security officials had said Yemeni air forces were behind the first two airstrikes . At least 34 suspected al-Qaeda militants , among them four senior leaders in the network , were killed in the al-Baitha attack , said Mohammed al-Ameri , governor of the province . Smoke from the air raids covered the skies hours after the strike . Security forces also formed new checkpoints in nearby districts . Residents said military aircraft roam the skies of the province around the clock . Yemeni rights organizations condemned the alleged U.S. airstrikes , calling them illegal . HOOD , a prominent Sanaa-based rights organization , said that no one has the right to kill another person without first bringing that person to trial . `` This is illegal and dozens were killed without given a chance to prove their case . We are against any U.S. attack in Yemen , '' said Mohammed Nagi Allow , HOOD 's president . More than 200 Yemeni troops were killed recently in clashes against al Qaeda in Abyan . Militants took over a military camp there , seizing large caches of weapons . They are still holding 72 troops hostage . Yemen has been desperately trying to weaken terror militant groups after they succeeded in taking over large parts of Abyan province last year . The United States has been backing Yemeni efforts against al Qaeda and has periodically struck targets inside Yemen , as occurred in September , when a drone strike killed American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki .
Sources at U.S. Central Command and the Defense Dept . provide no details . The United States gave Yemen no advance warning , a Yemeni official said . Yemen ##is rarely discuss the drone program .