VOA标准英语2013--混乱和暴力充斥着中非共和国

（单词翻译）

CAR’s Chaos¹ Spawns² Sectarian Bloodletting 混乱和暴力充斥着中非共和国

BOSSANGOA, CAR — Chaos and violence have gripped the Central African Republic since March when a coup³ by Muslim rebels and former mercenaries installed the country's  first Muslim leader and then went on a rampage.

Joined by common criminals, the de facto state army, calling itself "Seleka", or alliance, has been murdering, raping⁴ and looting with impunity⁵. In the northern town  of Bossangoa, some 40,000 people have sought refuge - a fraction of those who have fled increasingly sectarian violence.

Deserted⁶, razed⁷ villages line more than 100 kilometers of road south of Bossangoa, where tens of thousands of people are seeking shelter in a Catholic mission. They  fled the Seleka, whose brutalities have driven some 400,000 people in the Central African Republic from their homes.

Bishop⁸ Nestor Aziagba said the foreign mercenaries that seized CAR's presidency⁹ for Michel Djotodia, are responsible for the many abuses against the population.

“So they started committing [abuses], against the local population, looting their properties, cows, ransacking¹⁰ their crops, burning down everything they have, and the  government is not doing anything to protect them,” said Aziagba.

This brutality¹¹ has turned a political conflict into a human rights catastrophe¹², involving sectarian bloodletting.

Among the new arrivals to the overcrowded camp is Dofio Rodriguez, who fled a Seleka attack that killed 30 people.

“After coming from their base and circling the village, one Friday morning at 5 a.m. the Seleka started firing, sustained gunfire, with bullets flying everywhere,  killing people, children, men. You had to run to escape,” recalled Rodriguez.

In the Muslim quarter, trader Saleh Garba says he has documented over 500 deaths carried out by Christians¹⁴ against Muslims, including a September attack on two  villages near Bossangoa. “They massacred all the Muslims living there. There were some who were over 50, 60, 70 [years old], who lived in the village. They killed  everyone -- men, women -- even pregnant women. They beat them until the babies came out,” said Garba.

A handful of some 3,000 regional peacekeepers guard the Catholic mission and a school where some 1,000 Muslims are also seeking refuge, mainly from Christian¹³ self- defense¹⁵ groups.

The defense groups are armed with bows and arrows, daggers¹⁶ and machetes. With all security forces and officials having fled months ago, a few thousand regional troops  have the seemingly impossible task of protecting CAR's people from heavily-armed, marauding gangs. The chaotic¹⁷ situation has left both Muslims and Christians praying  for a proper intervention¹⁸ that can quell¹⁹ the violence and stop the bloodshed.