Saudi Arabia executed three drug traffickers on Sunday, beheading the men in public in a northern city.

The three Saudi security guards had been convicted of trafficking hashish using government vehicles, the Interior Ministry said.

Khamis bin Mabrouk al-Sayeri, Nasser bin Mohammed al-Fahadi and Zidan al-Oqaili al-Anzi were beheaded in the northern border city of Arar, according to the ministry.

They had been arrested loading an undisclosed amount of hashish into border guard vehicles.

Sunday's executions bring to 13 the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia in 2004. Last year at least 52 people, mostly drug smugglers, were beheaded.

Under Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islamic law, people convicted of drug trafficking, murder, rape and armed robbery are executed. The beheadings are carried out in public with a sword.