UN and Congo Militias Clash, Highlighting

 

By David Lewis

U.N. peacekeepers and militiamen clashed Sunday in war-torn northeastern Congo's Ituri district. Two militiamen were killed and two peacekeepers were wounded during the two-hour battle. The battle highlights the deteriorating² security situation in the region, and problems in the program to disarm³ the militiamen.

What was supposed to be a dawn search operation, investigating reports of a mass grave and information that some child soldiers may have been killed when they were trying hand in their weapons, turned into a day-long stand off followed by a two-hour raging gun battle between U.N. peacekeepers and militiamen.

The peacekeepers, backed by two attack helicopters, say they repeatedly tried to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the stand-off, but were forced to fight back on the ground and from the air when they were fired upon.

Investigators⁴ returned Monday to complete the search for evidence of a mass grave and signs of people having been killed in the camp, which was deserted⁵ by the gunmen who fled during and after the battle.

But the leader of the FAPC militia¹ involved, Jerome Kakwavu, said that the rockets fired from the U.N. helicopters had also killed 11 women and five children. And he accused the United Nations of illegally trying to forcibly disarm the militias⁶.

Sunday's confrontation⁷ is the latest in a series of violent incidents that risk derailing the process intended to restore peace to the mineral-rich northeastern Ituri District, where about 50,000 people have died in ethnic⁸ related violence since 1999.

Another militia operating in the region, the UPC, has also stepped up attacks on the 4,800 U.N. peacekeepers based in Ituri, ambushing⁹ patrols north of the capital Bunia.

Three months into a U.N.-backed fast-track disarmament program, just 800 of a targeted 15,000 gunmen have handed in their weapons. Analysts¹⁰ say the armed groups are reluctant to give up their weapons after years of running mineral operations and extortion rackets in the lawless corner of Congo.

But the armed groups have also complained that the government in Kinshasa has reneged on many of its promises, including the plan to offer senior positions in the new Congolese army to five members of each faction¹¹.

Through ambassadors accredited¹² to Kinshasa, the international community has criticized both sides and called for more efforts to solidify¹³ peace in the volatile¹⁴ region. But analysts say they are concerned that Sunday's attack could mark an escalation¹⁵ in the conflict and lead to further attacks on the U.N. mission.

Congo is struggling to recover from a wider five-year war that has sucked in six neighboring countries and killed about three million people, mostly from hunger and disease fueled by the conflict.

David Lewis, for VOA news, Kinshasa.

注释：
peacekeeper 维和部队
Congo 刚果
deteriorating 恶化的
fight back 抵抗
forcibly 强制地
confrontation 对质
patrol 巡逻
disarmament 裁军
mineral 矿石
extortion 敲诈勒索
racket 花天酒地的生活
Kinshasa 金沙萨（扎伊尔首都）
renege 否认，拒绝
escalation 扩大

1 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。

2 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。

3 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

4 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

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 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

8 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。

9 ambushing   

v.埋伏( ambush的现在分词 )；埋伏着

参考例句：

• The militia succeeded in ambushing the invading enemy soldiers. 民兵们成功地伏击了入侵的敌军。 来自互联网

10 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。

11 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。

12 accredited   

adj.可接受的；可信任的；公认的；质量合格的v.相信( accredit的过去式和过去分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于

参考例句：

• The discovery of distillation is usually accredited to the Arabs of the 11th century. 通常认为，蒸馏法是阿拉伯人在11世纪发明的。
• Only accredited journalists were allowed entry. 只有正式认可的记者才获准入内。

13 solidify   

v.(使)凝固，(使)固化，(使)团结

参考例句：

• Opinion on this question began to solidify.对这个问题的意见开始具体化了。
• Water will solidify into ice if you freeze it.水冷冻会结冰。

14 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。

15 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