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Algerians Start Voting in Referendum on Constitutional Change

Algerian President expected to return from his medical trip to participate in the voting process (Reuters)
Algerian President expected to return from his medical trip to participate in the voting process (Reuters)
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Algerians Start Voting in Referendum on Constitutional Change

Algerian President expected to return from his medical trip to participate in the voting process (Reuters)
Algerian President expected to return from his medical trip to participate in the voting process (Reuters)

Polls opened in Algeria on Sunday in a referendum on constitutional changes while President Abdelmadjid Tebboune remain hospitalized in Germany since last week after his aides had tested positive for COVID-19.

In a statement late on Saturday to commemorate the anniversary of Algeria’s war of independence from France, read out on his behalf, Tebboune urged people to vote.

He said that Algerians will once again "have a rendezvous with history" to bring in a "new era capable of fulfilling the hopes of the nation and the aspirations of our people for a strong, modern and democratic state."

Meanwhile, the Head of the Algerian National Independent Authority for Elections, which includes over 23 million voters, said that the bloc took full control over the authority in charge of organizing and monitoring the elections, stressing that the interior ministry is no longer dominating it.

In a statement to state radio on Saturday, Mohamed Charfi affirmed that for the first time since Algeria’s independence, the list of voters will be managed and controlled by the Authority rather than the Interior Ministry.

Parties and candidates mostly complain about fraud in the elections and accuse the Interior Ministry of “manipulating the votes.”

During the past few days, the two Islamic Justice and Development Front and the Movement of Society for Peace parties claimed that the government had prevented their leaders from campaigning for the "no" vote on the draft constitutional amendment. They said the government didn’t authorize gatherings to take place in different states, while paving the way for those who support the event, such as ministers and parties close to the government.

Leader in the Justice and Development Front Lakhdar Benkhelaf told Asharq Al-Awsat that Chrafi’s authority is powerless in terms of organizing the elections.

He said it failed to fulfill its pledges on the opposition’s participation in the quotas for the constitution’s propaganda on state television, due to the “government’s tendency to shut the opposing voices for this referendum.”

The rate of voting on the referendum in mobile offices (nomadic areas), which kicked off on Thursday, has amounted to 11 percent, considering it a “qualitative leap” compared to the presidential elections that took place in late 2019.

Under the referendum campaign, 1,905 gatherings were organized, with an average of 250 citizens taking part in each gathering, the official explained, noting that it is a significant figure in light of the exceptional circumstances due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Some opposition parties “were late in submitting their request to participate in the referendum campaign, and even some of the major parties submitted their requests after the specified deadlines.”

Chrafi, who is a former justice minister during Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s rule, said he sets hope on the maturity of Algerians to overcome the first step of change in Algeria, calling for a high turnout in the election.

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Arab World

KSrelief Aims to Deliver Aid to El-Fasher Displaced

KSrelief distributes aid in Um Rawaba, North Kordofan, to boost food security (SPA)
KSrelief distributes aid in Um Rawaba, North Kordofan, to boost food security (SPA)
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KSrelief Aims to Deliver Aid to El-Fasher Displaced

KSrelief distributes aid in Um Rawaba, North Kordofan, to boost food security (SPA)
KSrelief distributes aid in Um Rawaba, North Kordofan, to boost food security (SPA)

The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) said it continues to implement a response plan to deliver aid across Sudan’s war-affected states.

Fahad Al-Osaimi, Director of Emergency Relief at KSrelief, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the center is coordinating with UN organizations that have access to the city of El-Fasher.

He said the center is providing humanitarian assistance to those displaced from El-Fasher in the areas where they have sought refuge, while also supporting Sudan’s Ministry of Health with medicines and equipment to ease the impact of the crisis on Sudanese civilians.

Al-Osaimi said KSrelief was awaiting further information on the situation in El-Fasher, noting that the center functions as a donor agency, while implementation on the ground is carried out by its partners.

He added that KSrelief conducts monitoring visits to affected areas when security conditions allow, while partner organizations oversee operations in areas the center cannot reach.

New figures showed that Saudi Arabia’s total humanitarian and relief support for Sudan since the outbreak of the conflict has exceeded $134 million as of early November.

Al-Osaimi noted that Saudi Arabia was among the first to assist those in need when the crisis began, saying the center had dispatched 55 ships and 13 aircraft carrying thousands of tons of medical, food, and shelter aid, in addition to medical campaigns aimed at alleviating the suffering of Sudanese citizens.

He said KSrelief’s assistance targets key sectors affected by the conflict, including food security, health, water and sanitation, agriculture, and education.

KSrelief has also distributed food aid in several areas across North Kordofan State, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Al-Osaimi highlighted Saudi Arabia’s successful evacuation efforts during the early stages of the nearly two-and-a-half-year conflict, when 8,455 people were evacuated, including 404 Saudi citizens and 8,051 people of various nationalities.

He said Saudi Arabia also helped several friendly countries evacuate their nationals, numbering more than 11,184 people.

Public Response

The Saudi public’s donations to the national campaign to aid the Sudanese people, organized through the Sahem platform, have surpassed $19.4 million, according to recent official estimates.

The campaign, launched in May 2023 under the directives of King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, has drawn contributions from more than 537,000 donors to date.

Saudi Condemnation of Atrocities in El-Fasher

Last week, Saudi Arabia expressed deep concern and condemnation over the grave human rights violations committed during recent attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the Sudanese city of El-Fasher.

In a statement, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the RSF to fulfill its duty to protect civilians, ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid, and comply with international humanitarian law as stipulated in the Jeddah Declaration on the Commitment to Protect Civilians in Sudan, signed on May 11, 2023.

Call for Dialogue

In the same statement, Riyadh called for a return to dialogue to achieve an immediate ceasefire, reaffirming its commitment to Sudan’s unity, security, and stability, the preservation of its legitimate institutions, and its rejection of foreign interference that prolongs the conflict and exacerbates the suffering of the Sudanese people.

On Sunday, prosecutors at the International Criminal Court said they were gathering evidence of alleged mass killings and rapes in Sudan, some of which may amount to war crimes, after the RSF seized control of El-Fasher, the army’s last stronghold in the Darfur region of western Sudan.

Thousands of Sudanese civilians remain at risk in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, which the RSF captured on October 26, and in Bara, a strategic town in North Kordofan State, where large-scale displacement toward the city of El-Obeid has been reported.

Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) warned on Saturday that thousands of civilians remain trapped in El-Fasher and face imminent danger following the RSF takeover.

Satellite images have revealed evidence of ongoing massacres in the capital of North Darfur.

Survivors who fled to the nearby town of Tawila reported mass killings, shootings of children in front of their families, and assaults and looting targeting civilians trying to escape.

The United Nations said more than 65,000 people have fled El-Fasher since Sunday, though tens of thousands remain trapped. Researchers at Yale University said recent satellite images show continuing signs of mass killings inside and around the city.

Arab World

Satellite Images Suggest Evidence of Mass Burials Ongoing in Sudan’s El-Fasher

This satellite image from Vantor shows a trench experts suspect of being a mass grave being dug near a former children's hospital held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in el-Fasher, Sudan, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (©2025 Vantor via AP)
This satellite image from Vantor shows a trench experts suspect of being a mass grave being dug near a former children's hospital held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in el-Fasher, Sudan, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (©2025 Vantor via AP)
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Satellite Images Suggest Evidence of Mass Burials Ongoing in Sudan’s El-Fasher

This satellite image from Vantor shows a trench experts suspect of being a mass grave being dug near a former children's hospital held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in el-Fasher, Sudan, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (©2025 Vantor via AP)
This satellite image from Vantor shows a trench experts suspect of being a mass grave being dug near a former children's hospital held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in el-Fasher, Sudan, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (©2025 Vantor via AP)

Satellite images analyzed Wednesday appear to show mass burials being conducted in el-Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur region after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces seized it, further raising concerns about the scale of the violence that descended on the city.

The images of el-Fasher come as the two-year war grinds on in Sudan despite growing international outrage, with local media and the United Nations reporting a drone strike targeting a funeral in another city called el-Obeid, killing at least 40 people.

The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab analyzed images of el-Fasher shot by Vantor, an imaging firm based in Colorado formerly known as Maxar Technologies. Those images appear to show mass graves being dug and later covered at two sites in the city, one at a mosque just north of the Saudi hospital where some 460 people reportedly had been killed and another by a former children’s hospital that the RSF had been using as a prison, the researchers said.

“It is not possible based on the dimensions of a potential mass grave to indicate the number of bodies that may be interred; this is because those conducting body disposal often layer bodies on top of each other,” their report said.

The Associated Press separately obtained access to the Vantor imagery and saw the details that corresponded to the Yale lab’s report at the sites. The AP also accessed satellite photos shot by Planet Labs PBC on Tuesday, which showed different-colored soil at both the sites, which typically indicates the ground being dug up and then reburied.

Images show bodies and blood stains

Earlier satellite images analyzed by the Yale lab and the AP showed white objects on the grounds of the Saudi hospital and near the children’s hospital immediately after the RSF’s seizure of el-Fasher. The Yale lab identified those as likely being corpses, with blood stains also seen from space.

The RSF has denied killing anyone at the Saudi hospital, but testimonies from those fleeing el-Fasher, online videos and satellite images offer an apocalyptic vision of their attack.

The RSF also has published repeated videos from el-Fasher in recent days as they faced growing international horror and condemnation over the attack, including some at the hospital. Details of the footage corresponded to known features at the hospital. However, the footage never showed areas previously seen in footage shared on social media allegedly showing RSF fighters moving among bodies on the floor and shooting a man sitting up.

The AP also analyzed Planet Labs photos from Oct. 29 along a northern berm running outside of el-Fasher. In those images, white objects similar to those identified by the Yale lab as corpses appeared along it, with one area apparently full of burned-out vehicles.

The area corresponds to footage shot showing dozens of corpses and RSF fighters moving through the area, firing and talking to those wounded in the attack. Some of those killed appeared to be armed combatants. One fighter standing alongside RSF forces pictured in videos of the scene has been seen in another video purportedly shooting unarmed prisoners. The RSF said it arrested him on Oct. 30.

The Yale lab said in its report Wednesday it appeared some of the corpses from that attack had been taken away.

Assessing scale of el-Fasher attack remains difficult

The scope of the overall violence in el-Fasher remains unclear because communications are poor in the region.

Those killed included Dr. Adam Ibrahim Ismail, who worked in el-Fasher and was shot dead by the RSF in what the Sudan Doctors’ Network described as a “heinous crime” targeting doctors and aid workers. The group said Ismail was detained during the RSF’s incursion of the city and killed in a field.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for “mechanisms of accountability” over the el-Fasher seizure “because the crimes that are being committed are so horrendous.”

As bodies now likely are being buried, that makes any full accounting of the city’s seizure that much more difficult, particularly as investigators would need to dig them up in an area now held by warring party that allegedly committed the atrocities.

The war between the RSF and the Sudanese military began in April 2023. More than 40,000 people have been killed, according to UN figures, but aid groups say the true death toll could be many times higher.

RSF has been using drones

The drone attack Monday in el-Obeid, the capital of Sudan's North Kordofan province, killed at least 40 people and wounded dozens more, both local media and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported.

While the UN did not assign blame for the attack, local media blamed the RSF, which has not claimed the assault but has been using drones heavily in its offensive. Kordofan and neighboring Darfur regions emerged as the epicenter of Sudan’s war over the past months.

The fighting has driven more than 14 million people from their homes and fueled disease outbreaks. Two regions of Sudan are enduring a famine that’s at risk of spreading.

Ross Smith, World Food Program’s director of emergency response, told reporters this week that the agency is noticing “very poor food consumption” with people going for days without eating in some parts of the country.

“We’re seeing very high levels of severe malnutrition and we have many reports of mortality,” he said. “This is related to conflict for sure.”

Arab World

Lebanon Says Israeli Strike on South Kills One

People gather at the site of an Israeli drone strike that targeted a vehicle in the southern Lebanese village of Doueir, near the city of Nabatiyeh on November 3, 2025. (AFP)
People gather at the site of an Israeli drone strike that targeted a vehicle in the southern Lebanese village of Doueir, near the city of Nabatiyeh on November 3, 2025. (AFP)
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Lebanon Says Israeli Strike on South Kills One

People gather at the site of an Israeli drone strike that targeted a vehicle in the southern Lebanese village of Doueir, near the city of Nabatiyeh on November 3, 2025. (AFP)
People gather at the site of an Israeli drone strike that targeted a vehicle in the southern Lebanese village of Doueir, near the city of Nabatiyeh on November 3, 2025. (AFP)

An Israeli air strike in south Lebanon killed one person and wounded another on Wednesday, the Lebanese health ministry said, days after Israel warned it would intensify its attacks on Hezbollah.

In a statement, the ministry said the deadly "Israeli enemy strike" had hit a vehicle in Burj Rahal.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said the attack took place near a school, causing "panic and terror" among the students.

The Israeli military said it had killed Hussein Jaber Dib, accusing him of belonging to Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force.

Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah and has escalated its attacks in recent days.

The army said it had killed around 20 people "whose activities violated the understandings between Israel and Lebanon" over the past month.

Israel warned Sunday that it would intensify its attacks against the Iran-backed group, with Defense Minister Israel Katz claiming Hezbollah was "playing with fire, and the president of Lebanon is dragging his feet".

Hezbollah was badly weakened during the war, and the United States has pressured Lebanon to disarm it.

On Tuesday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reiterated his call for negotiations with Israel, saying the latter "has not yet defined its position and continues its attacks".