News: Saudi Arabia beheads 3 more people just days after new king Salman assumes the throne

Under the reign of King Salman just days after he assumed the throne, Saudi Arabia has carried out the second, third and fourth beheadings.

Today's executions of the men, two of whom were accused of drug smuggling, show the oil-rich Arab state is unlikely to back down over the enforcement of its strict version of Sharia law.

One of the men, convicted heroin trafficker Latif Khan Nurzada from Pakistan, was executed in the holy city Mecca - within hours of the new king meeting U.S. President Barack Obama.

One of the other two, Omar bin Yahya bin Ibrahim al-Barkati, was convicted of incest and beheaded in the south western Asir region.

'He was executed as punishment for his crime and as a lesson to others,' said an interior ministry statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. 

The third man, Yassir bin Hussein al-Hamza, was executed in the north western Jawf region after he allegedly confessed to smuggling amphetamine pills. 

According to a tally by the news agency AFP, their executions bring Saudi Arabia's number of executions to 16 already this year.

The number jumped from 27 in 2010 to around 80 every year under Salman's predecessor King Abdullah, with 87 last year. 

Yesterday the oil-rich state carried out its first execution under the rule of King Salman by beheading a convicted serial rapist.