WASHINGTON: The United States is considering a request from the United Arab Emirates for military support to assist a new offensive in Yemen against al Qaeda's most dangerous affiliate, US officials tell Reuters.

A US-backed military push by the Gulf ally could allow the administration of President Barack Obama to help strike a fresh blow against a group that has plotted to down US airliners and claimed responsibility for last year's attacks on the office of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has exploited the chaos of Yemen's year-old civil war to become more powerful than any time in its history, and now controls a swathe of the country.

The UAE has asked for US help on medical evacuation and combat search and rescue as part of a broad request for American air power, intelligence and logistics support, the US officials said. It was unclear whether US special operations forces - already stretched thin by the conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan - were part of the request.

The US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the UAE was preparing for a campaign against AQAP, but declined to offer details, citing operational security. The UAE is playing a key role in the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen that are loosely allied with Iran.

The White House and the Pentagon declined to comment. Government officials in the UAE did not respond to request for comment.

Washington's consideration of the request comes ahead of Obama's planned trip next week to a summit of Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia. The multiple conflicts in Yemen will be high on the agenda.

Saudi-backed Yemen government forces and the Houthi fighters began a tentative truce on Sunday, although there have been reports of violations.

Despite significant US strikes, including one that killed AQAP's leader last year, US counterterrorism efforts have been undermined by Yemen's civil strife.

The worsening conflict forced the evacuation in early 2015 of US military and intelligence personnel who had orchestrated an anti-AQAP campaign involving Yemeni special forces raids backed by US air power.

Renewed ground operations spearheaded by UAE special forces would fit the so-called "Obama doctrine" of relying mostly on local partners instead of large-scale US troop deployments. Washington's use of surrogate fighters has been criticised as inadequate in conflicts ranging from Iraq to Syria to Afghanistan.