2007年VOA标准英语-Clashes Erupt Among Sudanese Arabs

By Noel King
Kass, Darfur, Sudan
26 February 2007

The African Union has warned that violent clashes between nomadic¹ Arab tribes are heating up in south Darfur. A series of recently attacks by the Reizegat tribe has paralyzed much of the region. Noel King reports for VOA from Kaas, south Darfur.

 

Map of Darfur region of Sudan

Schoolchildren in Singita village, south Darfur, sing a song at the start of the school day.

 

They sing, "Oh, bird, I am not a sniper, don't fly away from me." Perhaps strange words for a song for small children, but even the youngest in Darfur have witnessed unspeakable violence during four years of conflict in the region.

 

Violent attacks by Arab nomads² known as janjaweed have terrorized this land since 2003.

 

The Sudanese government is charged with arming Arab nomads to crush a rebellion by African farmers who rose against Khartoum's powerful Islamist regime for neglecting the remote Darfur region.

 

But now, the janjaweed are not only fighting the Africans, they are also warring among themselves.

 

In the latest such incident, the African Union protection force based in Kaas, south Darfur, was alerted Sunday to a massacre³ in the village of Amar Jadeed.

 

Elderly Hussein Ahmed Hassan arrived at the AU base and reported 32 villagers from the Arab Terjem tribe were killed in an attack by the Arab Reizegat tribe.

 

Hussein said women and children have fled the village. He said they reported the attack to the police but no action was taken. The camel men, he said, wore government uniforms and they are supported by the government.

 

AU peacekeepers drove 26 kilometers to the village, but arrived at the scene of the attack several hours after it happened. The village was in ashes, with small fires still smoldering⁴. Twenty nine bodies were stacked in the bed of a truck for burial in a nearby cemetery⁵.

 

Three young children had already been laid in the ground. Men sat astride camels preparing for another attack while women gathered in a group and wept.

 

The villagers are not the African farmers who are normally the victims of janjaweed militias⁶. The Terjem are Arab camel herders themselves and local people tell VOA they were once friendly with the Reizegat.

 

Now, as the situation in Darfur grows increasingly desperate and water and food are even harder to find, the Reizagat and the Terjem have turned on one another.

 

The Terjem accuse the Sudanese government of providing arms to the Reizegat.

 

A day earlier, in Tutura village just north of here, four young Terjem boys were shot execution style by Reizegat in the back, as they slept.

 

On photographs of the victims obtained by VOA, the youngest boy appeared to be about seven years old, the eldest⁷ 15.

 

One boy's father, Abaker Fadil Isaac, spoke⁸ to VOA at the his son's funeral.

He said he heard the gunshots. He said his son was 15 and he slept along with the other boys. He said the men who killed the children came on camels.

 

The African Union has warned that the recent outbreak of tribal⁹ conflicts in south Darfur is ominous¹⁰.

 

Bashar Osman, a Reizegat camel herder with a rifle strapped¹¹ to his back, spoke to VOA near Gubba village south of Kaas.

 

Osman says the janjaweed are like storybook monsters. People are scared of them, he says, but no one has ever seen them.

 

Back at Amar Jadeed, African Union peacekeepers take notes for a report on the incident, but in the distance gunfire erupts again. The villagers, on their way to camps for the displaced in Kaas come fleeing back over the hills.

 

The African Union peacekeepers run for their patrol trucks. Their mandate¹² forbids them from stepping in between fighting forces. They are allowed to raise arms only in self-defense.

 

They argue over whether to go back to the village, but decide against it. The people of Amar Jadeed are left to their own fate.

1 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。

2 nomads   

n.游牧部落的一员( nomad的名词复数 )；流浪者；游牧生活；流浪生活

参考例句：

• For ten years she dwelled among the nomads of North America. 她在北美游牧民中生活了十年。
• Nomads have inhabited this region for thousands of years. 游牧民族在这地区居住已有数千年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

4 smoldering   

v.用文火焖烧，熏烧，慢燃( smolder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mat was smoldering where the burning log had fallen. 燃烧的木棒落下的地方垫子慢慢燃烧起来。 来自辞典例句
• The wood was smoldering in the fireplace. 木柴在壁炉中闷烧。 来自辞典例句

5 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

6 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

7 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

8 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。

9 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

10 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

11 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。