The department had seen the "reports that several US citizens have recently been detained in Yemen," the official told AFP, adding "we are doing everything we can to get these individuals released."
But he could not confirm any details about how many where held or who was holding them.
In DEC. 6, 2014 United States commandos stormed a village in southern Yemen early Saturday in an effort to free Luke Somers an American photojournalist held hostage by Al Qaeda, but the raid ended in tragedy, with the killing of American and a South African held with him.
Qaeda told 2 hostages had been killed by US forces. US rejected this claim.