2007年VOA标准英语-Rebels Renew Fighting in Chad

By Phuong Tran
Dakar
14 January 2007

Anti-government rebels in Chad say they resumed operations Saturday after a recent pause in fighting and have taken control of a remote town in the northeast. Government officials deny rebels have overtaken the town. Phuong Tran reports from VOA's Central and West Africa bureau.

Rebel forces with the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD) say they inflicted¹ heavy casualties on government forces and pushed them out of Ounianga Kebir, a town in Chad's remote northeast.

A spokesperson for the UFDD based in Dakar, Makaila Nguebla, says that 80 fighters in two separate columns drove out government forces Saturday at dawn.

Government officials say the attacks had only been an incursion, and that the rebels retreated to the Sudanese border without engaging Chadian forces.

The clashes took place about 900 kilometers from Chad's capital N'Djamena. Previous rebel attacks have largely targeted towns further south near Chad's border with Sudan.

The renewed rebel activity takes places less than one month after another rebel faction², the United Front for Democratic Change, signed a peace accord with the government. Officials hailed the agreement as a first step toward peace and stability.

Mahamat Nour, left, leader of Chadian United Front for Democratic Change, Chad's President Idriss Deby, center, and Libyian leader Moammar Gaddafi, 24 Dec 2006

With the renewed rebel fighting, Nguebla says the UFDD is opening a new battlefront in its fight against President Idriss Deby's government.

He says that the rebels are trying to stretch the government forces by attacking in new areas across the country.

A fractious rebel movement has been trying to overthrow³ the Deby government, which it accuses of gross corruption⁴ and human rights abuses, through a low-intensity war.

Clashes between the government and rebels, inter-ethnic fighting near the Sudanese border, and conflicts in surrounding countries, have swelled⁵ the refugee population in Chad to more than 300,000.

Deteriorating⁶ living conditions in refugee camps have forced the U.N. refugee agency U.N.H.C.R. to explore relocating the refugees deeper into Chad, away from the Sudanese border.

Deby has accused Sudan of arming rebels in Chad, as well as Arab janjaweed militia⁷ from Sudan's Darfur region who have mounted cross-border attacks.

Officials in Khartoum deny these accusations⁸, and accuse Deby's government of backing anti-government insurgents⁹ in Darfur.

1 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

2 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

3 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

4 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

5 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

6 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

7 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

8 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

9 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网