Saudi Arabia puts 81 to death in its largest mass execution

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia on Saturday executed 81 people convicted of crimes ranging from killings to belonging to militant groups, the largest known mass execution carried out in the kingdom in its modern history.

The number of executed surpassed even the toll of a January 1980 mass execution for the 63 militants convicted of seizing the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979, the worst-ever militant attack to target the kingdom and Islam’s holiest site.

Those executed included 73 Saudis, seven Yemenis and one Syrian.