VOA常速英语2007年-Fighting Heats Up in Eastern Congo

By Noel King
Kigali
03 December 2007

Fighting has again erupted in eastern Congo's North Kivu province between forces loyal to dissident General Laurent Nkunda and the Congolese army. Noel King has more in this report from Kigali.

 

Rebels and Congo's armed forces on Monday battled for control of key towns in North Kivu province.

 

Congo's army attacked the rebel stronghold of Mushake, a U.N. military spokesman said.

 

"As of this morning, 5:30, the government troops launched their operations against Nkunda loyalists in the area of Mushake. They have used their artillery¹ and their attack helicopters have flown," said Major Vivek Goyal, who spoke to VOA by phone from Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province.

 

Congolese army officials were not available for comment.

 

Rebels said the attack on Mushake was expected, but did not offer further details on the fighting.

 

Rene Abandi, a spokesman for Nkunda, said the rebels had captured the Congolese army's garrison² town of Nyanzale, late Sunday.

 

"From that base they used to shell our positions. It was necessary to destroy that base because they were attacking us from there," said Abandi.

 

The United Nations Mission in Congo said it could not confirm whether Nyanzale had been taken by the rebels.

 

Nkunda says he is trying to protect Congo's ethnic-Tutsi population from attacks by Hutu militias³ known as the Democratic Force for the Liberation of Rwanda. The group has links to the perpetrators of Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

 

But many observers and analysts⁴ say Nkunda has done more harm than good. Nearly 400,000 people have been displaced by fighting since late last year. Incidents of sexual violence against women and recruitment of children into armed groups are skyrocketing.

 

The U.S. State Department announced that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa next week for meetings on the conflicts in Congo, Somalia and Sudan.

 

The United States has urged Nkunda to surrender and go into exile to avoid further bloodshed. But Nkunda spokesman Abandi told VOA that Nkunda has no intention of surrendering.

1 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

2 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

3 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

4 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。