JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia on Sunday executed three Pakistani nationals convicted of smuggling heroin, bringing the number of executions in the kingdom to 26 this year.

The state-run SPA news agency said the three had been found guilty of "smuggling quantities of heroin in their stomachs".

It named the three men as Mohammad Ashraf Shafi Mohammad, Mohammad Aref Mohammad Anayt and Mohammad Afdal Asghar Ali. All three are Pakistani citizens.

SPA reported 153 people being executed in the kingdom last year, a number confirmed by London-based rights group Amnesty International.