Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen reportedly shot one of their own men to death, accusing him of collaborating with American spies, and strung his body up under a soccer goalpost near a site where a U.S. drone attack reportedly killed five local residents late last year.

A report on the man's death was first published in English, along with a photo of his body, by the Long War Journal, a terrorism discussion site sponsored by the respected (but neocon-connected) Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. The full photo is at the bottom of this post.

Abdul Razzaq al-Jamal, a Yemeni journalist with deep contacts in Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, claims in an Arabic-language Facebook post that the man in the photo is Amin Abdullah Mohammed, a CIA-recruited informant who was caught passing information on Islamist operations to the Americans.

That, at least, is consistent with what the Long War Journal reported:

Arabic-language news reports confirmed that the man was shot in the head before being hanged for all to see. The Yemeni media said the location where the corpse was found was the site of an American drone strike on Dec. 24, 2013 that killed five Yemenis.

The man was apparently killed because it was suspected that he was working with the Americans. An al Qaeda flag and black banners were found beside his body reading, "American Spy in the Arabian Peninsula," and "Whoever fights with the government or cooperates with it is not a Yemeni, not a Hadrami, but a traitor." Another banner read, "Guider of American planes to kill Muslims."

Arabic reports also claimed that AQAP sources alleged that the man had planted microphones in AQAP vehicles and meeting places in order to guide American drone missiles.

In January, UPI reported that AQAP was intensifying attacks on Yemeni security installations and assassinating spies who collaborated with the U.S.

This is not the first time such an attack has occurred. In 2012, Yemeni militants allegedly crucified another man they believed to be assisting the U.S. with its drone surveillance and attack programs in the country. (Warning: video at the link is extremely graphic.)