也门议会禁止美国无人机

 　　SANAA, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Yemeni parliament on Sunday approved a ban on U.S. drones in the country after dozens of civilians² were killed by the unmanned aircraft, the official Saba news agency reported.

　　The parliament stressed the importance of protecting innocent citizens from any airstrike as well as preserving Yemen's sovereignty, Saba said, citing a statement of the legislature.

　　The decision was made after the U.S. drone mistakenly hit a wedding convey on Thursday in Yemen's southeastern province of al- Bayda, killing³ up to 17 Yemeni civilians and wounding about 21 others.

　　It was the second airstrike mistake in a week after a U.S. drone killed at least four people traveling on a road in the eastern province of Hadramout on Monday.

　　Washington has escalated⁴ its drone strikes on the al-Qaida network in Yemen since Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi took office in February 2012 after a UN-backed power transfer deal removed former President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power.

　　The Yemen-based al-Qaida offshoot frequently attack state institutions, the military and foreign missions in the country. On Dec. 5, 12 al-Qaida militants⁵ attacked the Yemeni defense⁶ ministry⁷, killing 56 people and injuring more than 200.

　　However, the U.S. drone strikes have mistakenly hit civilian¹ targets several times in the past two years. Human rights groups repeatedly accuse the United States of breaking international law and perhaps committing war crimes.

　　The nongovernmental groups said during an attack on Sept. 2, 2012, a U.S. drone hit a passenger van and killed 12 people returning from a market in Yemen's southern region.

　　Similarly, on Dec. 17, 2009, an attack by as many as five U.S. navy missiles struck a Yemeni hamlet, killing what the Yemeni government initially⁸ described as 34 "terrorists" at a training camp.

　　However, human rights groups said a government inquiry⁹ later established that although 14 fighters of the al-Qaida group were killed in the attack, so were at least 41 civilians, including nine women and 21 children.

　　The Yemeni people staged several rallies this year to demand an end to the U.S. drone strikes in the country.

1 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

2 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

5 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

9 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。