WASHINGTON — A US Special Operations soldier died of injuries suffered during a weekend raid against Al Qaeda militants in Yemen, the military said Sunday.

Three other American troops, members of a Navy SEAL unit, were wounded in the operation on Saturday against members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The militant organization has remained a potent threat amid an extended civil war in Yemen.

The incident marks the first time a member of the US military has died in combat since President Trump took office a little more than a week ago.

The ground operation, which had been planned for months during the Obama administration, was authorized by Trump, according to US officials familiar with the mission. Trump has pledged to wage a more aggressive campaign against militant groups worldwide.

A defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the slain service member was killed in a firefight with militants. The soldier was not identified.

According to a statement from US Central Command, 14 militants were killed during the operation, which took place in the al-Bayda governorate, which borders Shabwa.

Reports from the region indicated that more than a dozen civilians were killed in the raid as US forces called in support to assist those fighting on the ground.

US officials said they were assessing the reports of civilian casualties.

The raid, which took place in a remote desert area of Yemen’s Shabwa governorate, aimed to obtain intelligence information, including computer material, that was thought to be linked to planning for external attacks.

The official could not confirm whether US allies had participated in the raid. In recent months, US Special Operations forces have partnered with troops from the United Arab Emirates to help target and go after Al Qaeda militants in Yemen.

US helicopter gunships and fighter aircraft provided cover for the raid force, according to another defense official who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.

The aircraft dropped an unknown amount of munitions in support of the operation.

According to a report from the SITE Intelligence Group, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula reported in a message on the Telegram messaging app that US forces launched a helicopter attack and a ground raid on a Yemeni village, killing dozens of civilians.

The militant group denied that any militants were killed and said the young daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, a US citizen who was killed in a 2011 drone strike, was one of the civilians who died.

Last week, US drone strikes hit militants in al-Bayda, killing five over the course of three days.

The militant group also reported that it had shot down an American attack helicopter.

US officials said that an Osprey, a tilt-rotor military aircraft, went down in a ‘‘crash landing’’ at a staging area near the site of the operation but said the mishap was not believed to be caused by militant fire.

The disabled Osprey was then intentionally destroyed. Two service members were injured in that landing. The Osprey had been sent to recover the forces wounded in operation.

US Special Operations forces have maintained a small presence in Yemen focused on Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has been one of the most active branches of Al Qaeda and has been involved in plots to strike the West.

The United States had maintained a robust counterterrorism operation in Yemen before the start of the civil war between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels in 2014.

In recent years, US forces have primarily resorted to airstrikes to go after the militant group.

Trump said Sunday that Americans are saddened by the news that a US service member was killed and three wounded in the Yemen raid.

Trump said in a statement that ‘‘brave US forces were instrumental in killing’’ an estimated 14 militants and capturing ‘‘important intelligence that will assist the US in preventing terrorism against its citizens and people around the world.’’

Yemeni security and tribal officials said the raid in Yemen’s central Bayda province killed three senior Al Qaeda leaders: Abdul-Raouf al-Dhahab, Sultan al-Dhahab, and Seif al-Nims, the AP reported.

The al-Dhahab family, who are the late al-Awlaki’s in-laws, are considered an ally of Al Qaeda , which is now chiefly concentrated in Bayda.

An Al Qaeda official sent to the AP in Cairo photos purportedly showing the bloodied bodies of several children killed in the raid along with houses showing bullet holes. The official requested anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, long seen by Washington as among the most dangerous branches of the global terror network, has exploited the chaos of Yemen’s civil war, seizing territory in the south and east.

In a separate development, Yemen’s president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi on Saturday called for the remnants of his Parliament, many of whom are in exile in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere, to convene in the country’s southern port city of Aden, where he is struggling to establish government control.