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(Reuters) --
Saudi Arabia executed 81 men on Saturday, including seven Yemenis and a Syrian, for terrorism and other crimes such as having "deviant beliefs", authorities said, in the largest mass execution in decades.
The number dwarfed the 67 executions reported in all of 2021 and the 27 in 2020.
"These people, in total 81, were convicted of various crimes, including the murder of innocent men, women and children," the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
"Crimes committed by these individuals also include swearing allegiance to foreign terrorist organizations, such as ISIS (Islamic State), al Qaeda and the Houthis," it added.
Some traveled to conflict zones to join "terrorist organizations," the statement said.
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The ministry did not say how the executions were carried out.
The men included 37 Saudi nationals who were found guilty in a single case of attempting to kill security officers and attacking police stations and convoys, the ministry added.
The kingdom executed 63 people in one day in 1980, a year after militants seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca, according to state media reports.
A total of 47 people, including prominent Shia Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr, were executed in one day in 2016.
Rights groups have accused Saudi Arabia of enforcing restrictive laws on political and religious expression, and criticized it for using the death penalty, including for defendants detained as minors.
Saudi Arabia denies the allegations of human rights abuses and says it protects its national security in accordance with its laws.
The SPA, Saudi Arabia's state news agency, said the defendants were given the right to a lawyer and guaranteed all their rights under Saudi law during the court process.