2007年VOA标准英语-Civilians Flee Renewed Violence in Northern Sen

By Selah Hennessy
Dakar
14 May 2007

Civilians¹ from the northern Casamance region of Senegal are being displaced again, following renewed fighting between rebel groups. Hundreds of people are reported to have fled to the nearby Gambian border region to find safety. Selah Hennessy reports from the VOA West Africa bureau in Dakar.

Senegal

Local journalist Alpha Jallow has seen hundreds of villagers from northern Casamance fleeing the region during the past few days. He says they are going to the Gambian border region, where they hope to find protection with the Red Cross or with family members already living in villages there.

He has spoken with many people who are fleeing because they say the situation is too dangerous.

"I just spoke² to a woman who just came from Balaye, she said that there are still firing gunshot fire, they are hearing sporadic³ gunshot fire everywhere and because they know the situation is quite dangerous they decided⁴ to flee," said Alpha Jallow.

He says many people seem scared and exhausted⁵, and will have to make long journeys to find safety.

"The lady I spoke to was quite helpless, because I just saw her with her two children and then she was quite tired, quite disfigured, because she said she has to walk for a very long distance before she can get transport that will bring her to Bidgornam," he said. "She also said that in Bidgorna she is going to stay with family members until things calm down."

Robert Reeve, an analyst⁶ at the British research organization Chatham House, says going to the Gambia is a common destination for displaced civilians from the Casamance region.

"There are about 6,000 Senegalese refugees from Casamance in Gambia most of the time, but you get a few thousand more coming and going from the northern area which has been the most active combat zone for the past year or so," said Robert Reeve.

According to Jallow, the local journalist, rebel factions⁷ are competing for territory in the region. He says an alliance of rebel groups are fighting the hard-line wing of the Movement for Democratic Forces in the Casamance, led by Salif Sadio. The breakaway rebel factions claim Sadio's group is terrorizing the local population and taking over local business.

Rebels have been fighting for more autonomy in Casamance which borders both the Gambia and Guinea-Bissau, since the early 1980's, but there have been increasing splits within their movement.

Main rebel leaders signed a peace accord with Senegal's government in 2004, but fighting never completely ended. Some rebels never agreed to the talks.

The recent killings⁸ of several Senegalese government officials in the Casamance region remain unsolved.

1 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。

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 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。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

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 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

8 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。