2007年VOA标准英语-Villagers Flee Fighting in Senegal's Casamance

By Naomi Schwarz
Dakar
01 March 2007

Villagers in Senegal's volatile¹ Casamance region are fleeing renewed fighting between rebels and government forces. Naomi Schwarz has more from VOA's regional bureau in Dakar.

Fighting in the north of Senegal's turbulent Casamance region has chased many villagers from their homes, says local journalist Alpha Jallow.

"In the village I visited yesterday, the village of Tendouck, which had a population of 500 people, almost nobody [is] left. All of them have fled the area," he said.

Villagers rushed away from violence, many on foot, to a larger nearby village or across the border to the Gambia.

But Jallow says some were not able to leave.

"I spoke² to an old man called Ousmane Diediou," he added.  "I asked him why he has not left the village. He said that he has no choice because right now he cannot leave the village, because he is taking care of his animals, his goats and his cattle."

Spokesman for the Senegalese Army, Colonel Antoine Wardini, confirmed the army fired mortar³ shots in the area, but says he cannot confirm that civilians⁴ fled.

"I cannot confirm it because we were not in the village," he said.  "We did not go into the village for anything like that. We did not go for fighting, we did not shoot. We treated an area northeast of the village, northeast, it is about two, three, kilometers from the village, in a forest, where some enemies were signaled."

Political analyst⁶, Babacar Justin Ndiaye, says this recent bout⁵ of fighting is connected to the presidential election held last Sunday.

He says the rebels want to show the Senegalese government cannot run an election in Casamance.

The rebels have been fighting for more autonomy since the early 1980s. Leaders of the rebellion signed a peace agreement with the government in 2004, but Ndiaye says the fighting never completely stopped.

He says the fighting is sporadic⁷. This week it was intense, he says, but it comes and goes.

Analysts⁸ say that the separatist movement has become increasingly factionalized, and even if there is a peace agreement, radical⁹ members of the rebellion will continue to fight.

The rebellion has gotten little international attention, over the decades of fighting.

Senegalese analyst Ndiaye says this is because Senegal's government is democratic, and the rebels do not have much popular support.

The rebels say that the Casamance was never meant to be incorporated into Senegal after independence. It is separated from the rest of the country by the former-British-colony, the Gambia

1 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 bout   

n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛

参考例句：

• I was suffering with a bout of nerves.我感到一阵紧张。
• That bout of pneumonia enfeebled her.那次肺炎的发作使她虚弱了。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。

8 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

9 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。