Afghan Drug Trafficker Beheaded in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday beheaded an Afghan man convicted of drug trafficking, the Interior Ministry announced.

Mohammed Omar Khan was arrested after "he received a very large amount of hashish," said the statement cited by the official SPA news agency.

He was beheaded by the sword in the western city of Mecca.

The beheading brings to six the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia so far this year.

In 2012, the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom beheaded 76 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch put the number at 69.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's strict version of sharia, or Islamic law.