Saudi Arabia on Monday beheaded two Pakistani men convicted of armed robbery, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.

The execution in the western city of Jeddah came after the two men admitted to having set up a gang to rob bank customers at gunpoint, the report said.

A total of 54 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia since the start of the year, according to an AFP count.

In 2012, the Gulf country put 76 people to death, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Human Rights Watch has 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.

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