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Saudi Arabia has executed five more people on terrorism charges, bringing the total number of executions in the kingdom to 188 as of October 17 this year, according to an AFP tally based on official statements.
The five Saudi nationals were executed in the kingdom’s Eastern Province on October 17, the Saudi Interior Ministry said.
They were convicted of joining a foreign terrorist organisation, opening fire on security personnel and supporting what authorities described as terrorist activities inside Saudi Arabia. The ministry did not provide further details about the specific incidents linked to the charges.
The latest executions have renewed international scrutiny of Saudi Arabia’s use of the death penalty, particularly after the recent executions of two Bangladeshi nationals sparked widespread discussion in Bangladesh.
Executions in Shia-majority Eastern Province
The executions took place in the Eastern Province, home to most of Saudi Arabia’s minority Shia Muslim population. Members of the Shia community have long reported discrimination and marginalisation in the Sunni-majority kingdom.
The European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights condemned the executions, alleging that one of the five people had been sentenced to death over actions committed when he was a minor.
The rights group described the execution as a serious violation of law and human rights, warning that the death penalty was increasingly being used as a tool of repression under the pretext of combating terrorism.
The report did not mention any response from Saudi authorities to the organisation’s allegations.
15 executed on terrorism charges this year
According to AFP, Saudi Arabia has executed 15 people on terrorism charges since January this year, most of them in the Eastern Province.
The kingdom executed 40 people on similar charges last year, AFP reported.
Saudi Arabia carried out a record 356 executions in 2025, according to the news agency. International human rights organisations have repeatedly expressed concern over the kingdom’s high execution rate.
Executions amid Houthi attacks
The latest executions come as Saudi Arabia faces missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Riyadh has long provided military support to Yemen’s internationally recognised government in the country’s protracted civil war, while the Iran-backed Houthis have fought against that government.
However, no direct link has been established between the Houthi attacks and the latest executions.
Saudi Arabia ranks third globally
According to Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia ranked third in the world for executions between 2022 and 2025, behind China and Iran.
Saudi authorities maintain that the death penalty is necessary to preserve public order and say executions are carried out only after all avenues of appeal have been exhausted.
Human rights organisations, however, have raised concerns over the extensive use of capital punishment, the transparency of judicial proceedings and the execution of people for acts allegedly committed when they were minors.
The latest executions have once again brought Saudi Arabia’s judicial system and its use of capital punishment under international scrutiny.
