Al-Qaeda Kills Man Accused of US Drone Spotting in Yemen

Suspect Shot and Put on Display

A man identified as Amin Abdullah Mohammed al-Muallimi was executed today by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in the Hadramout Province of Yemen, shot and put on public display at the local football pitch.

A video was released showing Muallimi confessing to acting as a spotter for US drone strikes in 2012 and 2013, and had been recruited by the US and put through training by a Saudi intelligence officer.

He went on to say that the US ordered him to place tracking chips on three men who were later assassinated by drone, and played a role in the Christmas 2012 drone strike.

US drone strikes have been on the rise in recent months, and at least four were reported this week alone. The identities of most of the victims are never made public, and they are often simply labeled “suspects,” raising suspicions that the intelligence the US gets is all but non-existent.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.