The authorities of Saudi Arabia announced that they executed yesterday Monday five men, four nationals of the country and one citizen of Egypt, who had been accused of a terrorist attack targeting a place of worship.

The development brought to 68 the death toll since the start of the year in the Sunni kingdom, which is among the world’s most frequently executed capital punishment states, according to an AFP tally based on official announcements.

The five were convicted of carrying out an attack that left five dead and several wounded in the eastern part of the country, the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a press release, without specifying when or where.

A court also found them guilty of the charge of belonging to a “terrorist organization”.

Since the beginning of May, more than twenty people have been executed following their convictions on terrorism charges, most of them in the eastern part of the kingdom, where the majority of residents are Shiites.

Last year, Saudi Arabia executed 147 people, 81 of them in one day, sparking an international outcry.

More than 1,000 executions have been carried out since King Salman took power in 2015 and his son Mohammed became heir to the throne and de facto leader of the country, according to a tally by UK-based Reprieve and the Euro-Saudi human rights group released earlier of the year.