VOA常速英语2007-Fighting Cripples Humanitarian Aid in War-Torn E

By Noel King
Masisi
16 October 2007

Humanitarian¹ officials warn a crisis in eastern Congo's war-torn North Kivu Province is deepening with each passing day. A new eruption² of fighting between rebels and the Congolese army has sent thousands of civilians⁴ streaming over mountain roads for the relative safety of the capital city, Goma. And, aid access to tens of thousands of other people has been cut. Noel King has this report from Masisi.

 

Fierce eruptions⁵ of violence in eastern Congo are crippling the delivery of humanitarian aid.

 

A recent World Food Program convoy⁶, bound for Masisi, became stuck on muddy roads, as fighting between forces loyal to dissident General Laurent Nkunda and the Congolese army erupted a few kilometers away.

 

Gaining access to vulnerable people is the newest front in an increasingly complex emergency in eastern Congo's North Kivu Province.

"We just can't reach people like we used to," said Aya Shneerson, director of the World Food Program in north and south Kivu Province. "So, in some parts, we have tens of thousands of people who have fled conflict, who are living in deplorable conditions, who really need our help and we just can't get there."

 

Fighting in rural areas has caused thousands of people to flee their homes, with more leaving home every day.

 

As the World Food Program convoy headed into a mountain pass, the roads swelled⁷ with civilians fleeing Karuba. None of the displaced people carried much more than a bag of cassava plants and an umbrella. This will have to sustain them until food aid arrives in the squalid camps for the displaced that have sprung up outside Goma.

 

Fura Nyamarihu was among those fleeing Karuba. She says the fighting started two days ago and that the soldiers of Laurent Nkunda are looting food from people's houses.

 

Days later, 34 tons of food aid were delivered to some 20,000 displaced people in Masisi. But the WFP Convoy was cut off at the town, because of fighting along the roads.

 

In Masisi, an anti-United Nations riot erupted. Residents of the town, mostly secondary school students, chased after the trucks of U.N. peacekeepers, hurling⁸ rocks at them.

 

One protester, Kibanga Kibuya, explained why the riot began. He accuses the United Nations of giving Laurent Nkunda ammunition⁹ and uniforms.

 

The United Nations strongly denies any connection to Nkunda. Officials said the riot was likely incited¹⁰ by members of one of eastern Congo's numerous armed militia¹¹ groups.

Congolese police fired into the air to disperse¹² the protesters, but not before the young rioters reached the U.N. base and demanded to talk to officials there.

 

After an hour, the United Nations dispatched two helicopters from Goma.

 

Rioters retreated into their homes and the streets were quiet again.

 

An estimated 370,000 people have fled their homes since fighting erupted between Nkunda's forces and the Congolese army, in December of 2006.

 

Congo, a resource rich but chronically¹³ troubled nation, has several armed militia groups operating in the eastern provinces.

 

Following a 2006 election, Congolese officials asked militias¹⁴ to integrate into the regular army.

 

Nkunda's forces, among others, have refused. Nkunda charges that Congo has not done enough to rid the east of Hutu militias, with links to neighboring Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

 

Nkunda, an ethnic¹⁵ Tutsi, says he is trying to protect Congo's Tutsi population.

 

But, by many accounts, his rebellion is unpopular among a civilian³ population already exhausted¹⁶ by years of war.

1 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。

2 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

3 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

4 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。

5 eruptions   

n.喷发，爆发( eruption的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year. 今年火山爆发了好几次。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Over 200 people have been killed by volcanic eruptions. 火山喷发已导致200多人丧生。 来自辞典例句

6 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

7 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。

8 hurling   

n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• The boat rocked wildly, hurling him into the water. 这艘船剧烈地晃动，把他甩到水中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Fancy hurling away a good chance like that, the silly girl! 想想她竟然把这样一个好机会白白丢掉了，真是个傻姑娘！ 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

10 incited   

刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He incited people to rise up against the government. 他煽动人们起来反对政府。
• The captain's example incited the men to bravery. 船长的榜样激发了水手们的勇敢精神。

11 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。

12 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

13 chronically   

ad.长期地

参考例句：

• Similarly, any pigment nevus that is chronically irritated should be excised. 同样，凡是经常受慢性刺激的各种色素痣切勿予以切除。
• People chronically exposed to chlorine develop some degree of tolerance. 人长期接触氯气可以产生某种程度的耐受性。

14 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

15 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。

16 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。