RIYADH, Nov 26: Saudi authorities beheaded on Tuesday a Pakistani man convicted of smuggling drugs to the kingdom, the interior ministry said.

The man was found guilty of attempting to smuggle an undisclosed amount of heroin that he had swallowed, the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency.

His beheading in the eastern city of Dammam brings to 72 the number of executions carried out in Saudi Arabia this year, according to an AFP count.

In 2012, the kingdom carried out 76 executions, according to a tally based on official figures. Human Rights Watch put the number at 69. —AFP