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Saudi Arabia executed five people on Saturday after convicting them of terrorism-related offences, the interior ministry announced, pushing the number of death sentences carried out in the kingdom this year to 188, according to a tally by AFP based on official statements.
The five men, all Saudi nationals, were found guilty of “joining a foreign terrorist organisation”, opening fire on security forces and “providing support” for “terrorist operations inside the kingdom”, the ministry said.
The executions took place in the Eastern Province, the region that is home to most of Saudi Arabia’s Shia Muslim minority. The community has long complained of marginalisation in the Sunni-majority country, and the east has repeatedly featured in the geography of terrorism-related executions.
Since January, the Kingdom has put 15 people to death following terror convictions, most of them in the east. That compares with 40 such executions in the whole of 2025, meaning this year’s terror-related toll is running well below last year’s.
The latest executions come at a tense moment for Riyadh, which is facing daily missile and drone attacks from the Houthis in Yemen. Saudi Arabia militarily backs Yemen’s internationally recognised government in its long-running civil war against the Iran-backed group, a conflict that has increasingly spilt across the border.
Saudi Arabia’s use of capital punishment has drawn sustained scrutiny from rights groups. According to Amnesty International, the kingdom was the world’s third-most prolific executioner between 2022 and 2025, behind only China and Iran.
Authorities in Riyadh defend the practice. The Kingdom considers the death penalty necessary to maintain public order, and insists it is applied only after all appeals have been exhausted.
