[ti:Refugees Tell About Conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray Area] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Filimon heard the sound of heavy weapons [00:04.44]in his Ethiopian border town, and he started to run. [00:10.76]Filimon is an Ethiopian refugee [00:14.96]who spoke to the Associated Press, or AP. [00:20.96]He is now in Sudan. [00:23.44]He does not know if his wife and two small children [00:28.32]are trapped in the fighting or among the thousands of refugees. [00:35.24]He is afraid and would only give one name. [00:41.40]Speaking by phone to AP from Sudan on Thursday, [00:46.88]Filimon described what he experienced [00:50.64]in the Tigray town of Humera last week. [00:56.76]He said those attacking came from the direction of Eritrea, [01:02.76]though he does not know if they were Eritrean forces. [01:09.20]Ethiopia may be close to a civil war [01:13.60]as it fights Tigray militants at its northern border. [01:19.92]The Tigrayans are demanding greater independence. [01:25.44]Experts fear the conflict [01:28.36]could bring in neighboring countries on both sides. [01:35.16]Tigray leaders have accused Eritrea [01:38.76]of joining the week-long conflict [01:42.04]at the request of Ethiopia's federal government. [01:48.12]Ethiopia's government calls the Tigray government illegal. [01:54.96]Ethiopia has denied the involvement of Eritrean forces. [02:02.88]Filimon's problems are far simpler. [02:08.36]After a day-long walk with about 30 others fleeing, [02:13.76]he has been in Sudan for two days. [02:18.12]There are 11,000 refugees now, [02:22.16]but officials are preparing for up to 100,000, [02:26.80]the United Nations refugee agency said Thursday. [02:32.48]About half of them are children. [02:35.96]The UN agency said it was not taking statements yet about the fighting. [02:45.44]It is just trying to treat the wounded and separate soldiers from refugees. [02:54.28]In Ethiopia, worries over the conflict [02:58.24]are spreading far beyond the northern Tigray area. [03:04.24]The federal government said it had detained about 150 "operatives" [03:11.40]accused of trying to spread "fear and terror" throughout the country. [03:19.72]Hours later, police in Addis Ababa [03:23.68]said they had arrested 242 people [03:28.00]for trying "to cause terror in the capital." [03:32.84]It is not clear if these are separate numbers. [03:38.44]Tigrayans in Addis Ababa are scared. [03:43.36]"We don't go to the office because they might also arrest us," [03:48.24]said one ethnic Tigrayan in the capital. [03:53.96]Ethiopia's parliament has accused top Tigrayan officials [03:59.64]of "attacking the federal army." [04:03.44]It voted to remove immunity from prosecution [04:08.68]for 39 top Tigray officials, including its president. [04:16.96]Around the country, people have demonstrated in support [04:21.48]of the federal government's military moves [04:25.16]against the Tigray People's Liberation Front, or TPLF. [04:33.12]That group governs the area. [04:37.84]Ethiopia's prime minister won the Nobel Peace Prize [04:42.92]for his peacemaking efforts. [04:46.32]But Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed [04:49.28]has rejected international requests for negotiations. [04:54.64]He said TPLF officials must be removed [05:00.28]and arrested and all their weapons destroyed. [05:06.12]What appears to be a sudden move toward civil war [05:10.48]has been coming for months. [05:13.16]After taking office in 2018, [05:17.08]Abiy announced political reforms [05:20.96]that won him the Nobel prize. [05:25.20]However, he also pushed the TPLF aside. [05:31.48]It had been a major part of Ethiopia's federal government. [05:36.92]The TPLF left the government and held its own local elections. [05:43.76]Ethiopia's federal government considers this illegal. [05:51.40]I'm Mario Ritter, Jr. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM