The first thing your correspondent(记者，通讯员) noticed, driving through the streets of Khartoum, was the quiet. Before the current civil war broke out three years ago, Sudan’s capital city was a bustling metropolis, the most substantial industrial base in the Sahel and home to 6m-9m people.(三年前内战爆发前，苏丹首都曾是一座繁华的大都市，是萨赫勒地区最庞大的工业基地，居住着600万至900万人口。) Today there is just absence(不存在，缺乏). It feels like Aleppo(阿勒颇，叙利亚城市，内战中被毁) or Gaza: a city in ruins.
本报记者驱车穿过喀土穆的街道，首先注意到的是寂静。三年前内战爆发前，苏丹首都曾是一座繁华的大都市，是萨赫勒地区最庞大的工业基地，居住着600万至900万人口。如今只剩下空无。这里感觉就像阿勒颇或加沙：一座废墟之城。
The devastation(破坏，毁灭) is the result of a brutal(残酷的，野蛮的) battle for control between the two parties to the war—the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), well-financed paramilitaries(准军事组织成员), and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), Sudan’s regular army. The conflict began on April 15th 2023; for nearly two years of fighting the RSF controlled most of the capital, including the historic centre around the presidential palace and the airport. As many as 5m residents fled their homes. Only in March last year did the SAF drive them out(把他们赶走).
这场破坏是战争双方之间残酷控制权争夺的结果——快速支援部队（RSF），资金充足的准军事组织，以及苏丹武装部队（SAF），苏丹的正规军。冲突始于2023年4月15日；在近两年的战斗中，RSF控制了首都大部分地区，包括总统府和机场周边的历史中心。多达500万居民逃离家园。直到去年3月，SAF才将他们赶出。
The war between the RSF and the SAF rivals that between Ukraine and Russia as the world’s most destructive current conflict.(RSF与SAF之间的战争与俄乌战争并列为当今世界最具破坏性的冲突。) Hundreds of thousands have probably been killed and, according to the UN High Commissioner on Refugees(联合国难民事务高级专员), some 14m have been displaced(流离失所的). That makes it the largest forced movement of people so far this century.
RSF与SAF之间的战争与乌克兰和俄罗斯之间的战争并列为当今世界最具破坏性的冲突。数十万人可能已经丧生，据联合国难民事务高级专员称，约有1400万人流离失所。这使其成为本世纪迄今最大规模的人口被迫迁移。
Mixed messages
混乱的信号
