Saudi Arabia executed two more people on Monday, August 4, for terrorist-related crimes. This brings the total number of executions in just three days to 17, according to reports from the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). Most of the earlier executions were carried out over the weekend and involved people convicted of drug offences, mainly foreign nationals.

Thirteen of those executed were found guilty of smuggling hashish, and another was convicted of smuggling cocaine. Monday's executions marked the first to be linked to terrorism charges since the recent increase in capital punishment activities. This has become the fastest rate of executions in the country since March 2022, when 81 people were killed in a single day.

So far in 2025, Saudi Arabia has carried out 239 executions, according to AFP's analysis. Out of these, 161 were for drug-related crimes, and 136 involved foreign nationals. This number is on pace to surpass the 338 executions recorded in 2024—the highest number since official records began in the 1990s.

Human rights advocate Jeed Basyouni from Reprieve, a UK-based group, raised alarm over this rise in executions. She expressed concern, especially over the increasing number of executions for drug-related offences like hashish, which many countries are now decriminalising.

Observers believe this increase is tied to Saudi Arabia's anti-drug campaign launched in 2023. Many of those executed had been arrested during the campaign's early phase. Saudi Arabia resumed executions for drug crimes in late 2022 after nearly three years of suspension.

While the government claims that all executions follow legal procedures and are necessary for national security, human rights groups say that such punishments for low-level crimes harm the kingdom's efforts to appear more open and modern under Vision 2030 reforms.

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