Two Saudi men were executed Sunday for murder in two separate cases, the Interior Ministry announced.

Yussef Al-Nafii, executed in the western city of Taif, had been convicted of shooting fellow Saudi Salman Al-Rabii dead after a dispute, the Saudi Press Agency quoted a ministry statement as saying.

In the other case, Abdessalam Al-Ruili was beheaded in Arar in the north for stabbing to death compatriot Abdessalam Al-Anzi following an altercation, the ministry said.

The beheadings raise to 28 the number of executions announced in the Kingdom so far this year, according to an AFP tally.

Last year, there were 78 executions in the country.