Saudi Arabia executes 5 citizens sentenced to death on terrorism charges

The Saudi Ministry of Interior announced that the death sentences of five citizens convicted of terrorism charges were carried out in the country's Eastern Province.

With the execution of five citizens convicted of terrorism crimes in Saudi Arabia, the total number of death penalties carried out across the country this year has risen to 188. According to data based on official statements, the five individuals executed had been convicted of joining a foreign terrorist organization, opening fire on security forces, and supporting terrorist operations within the kingdom.

The Eastern Province, where the executions took place, is known as an area largely inhabited by the Shiite minority, who have long complained of marginalization by the country's Sunni majority. While most of the 15 people executed on terrorism charges since the beginning of the year were from this region, last year that number was recorded as 40.

The latest executions coincide with a period when Saudi Arabia is facing daily missile and drone attacks from the Houthis in the long-running civil war where Riyadh supports the internationally recognized government in Yemen against the Iran-backed Houthis. According to Amnesty International data, Saudi Arabia was the world's third-highest executor of the death penalty between 2022 and 2025, behind China and Iran. Meanwhile, the kingdom maintains that capital punishment is necessary to maintain public order and is applied only when all avenues of appeal have been exhausted.