VOA常速英语2007年-Chadian Rebel Faction Clashes With Army, Others

By Nico Colombant
Dakar
03 December 2007

A third Chadian rebel faction¹ has engaged in combat with the Chadian army in the east of the country. Other groups have retreated, saying they are preparing new attacks. Meanwhile, humanitarian² workers say their work is being complicated because many roads have been blocked following the recent escalation³ in fighting. VOA's Nico Colombant has more from our regional bureau in Dakar.

Skirmishes broke out between the Assembly of Forces for Change, known by its French acronym⁴ RFC, and government forces around the town of Aram Kole.

The violence started despite calls by RFC leaders that they wanted to hold talks with government leaders in the Chadian capital N'Djamena.

Several rebel groups resumed attacks last week after a one-month lull⁵ that followed an unfulfilled peace agreement signed in Libya.

A rebel spokesman Makaila Nguebla says the other two rebel groups who have been engaged in fighting were forced to stop offensives last week after Chadian government forces deployed⁷ heavy firepower, backed by French military surveillance flights.

But he says many of the rebels are regrouping along the border with Sudan, and the separate rebel factions⁸ are trying to team up for a new offensive.

He warns full-scale attacks could begin in the next few days.

During the violence last week, Chad's army was engaged on several fronts. The mainly ethnic⁹ Tama rebel group the United Front for Change entered the Tama-dominated area of Guereda last week after government troops pulled out to fight rebels from another group, the United Forces for Democracy and Development, further south.

Many of the rebel groups have splits within their own movements, with some of their members in favor of talks and others all-out violence to topple Chadian President Idriss Deby.

A UFDD leader, Amine Bendarka, says the government needs to show good faith, stop its military operations and resume setting up commissions to discuss power-sharing and disarmament.

Meanwhile, aid workers say they need a return to peace as well, to help the hundreds of thousands of displaced people who have fled fighting in Chad and neighboring Sudan.

Annette Rehrl is a spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee agency. "We hope that the fighting will end soon and that the crisis (will end), and that they will find their way back to dialogue and to peace," she said.

She says fighting and the movements of soldiers and rebels has blocked off access to refugee camps, making it more difficult to reach Chad's internally displaced.

"We are also hindered in getting to the IDPs (internally displaced people), which is always more complicated than getting to refugee camps because the internally displaced Chadians are not living in specific sites. They live in over 200 villages between (the main eastern city of) Abeche and the Sudanese border," she said.

The European Union has been trying to organize a 3,700 member peacekeeping force to deploy⁶ in Chad, but has faced logistical and financial delays to deploy.

1 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。

2 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

3 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

4 acronym   

n.首字母简略词，简称

参考例句：

• That's a mouthful of an acronym for a very simple technology.对于一项非常简单的技术来说，这是一个很绕口的缩写词。
• TSDF is an acronym for Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities.TSDF是处理，储存和处置设施的一个缩写。

5 lull   

v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇

参考例句：

• The drug put Simpson in a lull for thirty minutes.药物使辛普森安静了30分钟。
• Ground fighting flared up again after a two-week lull.经过两个星期的平静之后，地面战又突然爆发了。

6 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

7 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

8 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

9 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。