Saudi Arabia executes five on terrorism charges

Saudi Arabia executed five people on terrorism charges on Saturday, the interior ministry said, bringing the number of death sentences carried out in the kingdom this year to 188, according to an AFP tally based on official statements.

The ministry said the five Saudi nationals had been convicted of joining a foreign terrorist organisation, opening fire on security forces and providing support for terrorist operations inside the kingdom.

The executions were carried out in the Eastern Province, home to most of Saudi Arabia's Shia Muslim minority, which has long complained of marginalisation in the Sunni-majority country.

Since January, Saudi Arabia has put 15 people to death after terrorism convictions, most of them in the east, compared with 40 in 2025.

The European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights denounced the executions and said one of the five had been sentenced over acts attributed to him as a minor. The group called that execution a “flagrant violation” of the law and said all five sentences represented an escalation in the use of the death penalty under counter-terrorism.

The executions came as Saudi Arabia faces daily missile and drone attacks from Yemen's Houthis. Riyadh militarily backs Yemen's internationally recognised government in its long-running civil war against the Iran-backed group.

Amnesty International says Saudi Arabia was the world's third-most prolific executioner between 2022 and 2025, behind China and Iran. Saudi Arabia says the death penalty is necessary to maintain public order and is applied only after all appeals have been exhausted.