VOA标准英语2009年-LRA Continues Attacks in Eastern Congo

The U.N. refugee agency says it is increasingly concerned about the humanitarian¹ situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as attacks by the Ugandan rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army, continue. The UNHCR says the number of deaths, abductions and homeless people is growing.
　

A child sits near a food distribution queue in Buhimba camp five kilometers west of the provincial2 capital Goma, 13 Jan. 2009

U.N. aid workers in the DRC's Oriental Province say residents are in a state of panic and terrified at the prospect³ of more attacks from the Lord's Resistance Army.

The U.N. refugee agency estimates nearly 540 people have been killed and more than 400 kidnapped by the LRA since the outbreak of violence in the region last September.

U.N. refugee spokesman Ron Redmond says there has been no let up in the violence. He says more villages and settlements were attacked during the past four days southwest of the town of Faradje.

He says one village was reduced to ashes and a number of people were killed and abducted⁴ in this series of attacks.

"Rough estimates of the number of forcibly displaced in this part of the Democratic Republic of Congo have now surpassed 104,000 in this conflict with the LRA," Redmond said. "Many of these internally displaced people are still hiding in the bush, particularly in areas around the town of Faradje, which was heavily hit during the Christmas period."

Three villages in Oriental Province, including Faradje, were brutally⁵ attacked by the LRA on December 25 and 26. The attacks were in response to a joint⁶ military offensive mounted by the Congolese, Ugandan and Sudanese armies.

The operation was aimed at uprooting⁷ the LRA from its base, but it apparently⁸ did not work and only succeeded in provoking revenge attacks.

Redmond says out of an estimated 37,000 people who escaped from Faradje, about 16,000 have registered in Tadu and surrounding villages. He says more than 10,000 of them are children.

He says tens of thousands of displaced people are frightened, vulnerable and in need of everything.

"The displaced population is in dire⁹ need of food, shelter, medicine, clothes, other aid items," he said. "The roads are very, very poor in that region and is so insecure that getting assistance to people is next to impossible."

Redmond says the UNHCR is working with local authorities and other agencies on finding ways of delivering assistance in these insecure and inaccessible¹⁰ areas. He says safe humanitarian access remains¹¹ the key challenge for aid agencies.

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 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

3 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

4 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

5 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

7 uprooting   

n.倒根，挖除伐根v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的现在分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• He is hard at work uprooting wild grass in the field. 他正在田里辛苦地芟夷呢。 来自互联网
• A storm raged through the village, uprooting trees and flattening crops. 暴风雨袭击了村庄，拔起了树木，吹倒了庄稼。 来自互联网

8 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

9 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

10 inaccessible   

adj.达不到的，难接近的

参考例句：

• This novel seems to me among the most inaccessible.这本书对我来说是最难懂的小说之一。
• The top of Mount Everest is the most inaccessible place in the world.珠穆朗玛峰是世界上最难到达的地方。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。