美国国家公共电台 NPR As Assault On Mosul Looms, Resistance Grows — And ISIS Grows More Brutal

As Assault On Mosul Looms¹, Resistance Grows — And ISIS Grows More Brutal² 

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ISIS has held the Iraqi city of Mosul for more than two years. Now Iraqi forces are gathered in the tens of thousands to try to take it back. U.S. troops will be close to the battlefield and carry out air strikes. NPR's Alice Fordham met with people who recently fled Mosul who say the militants⁴ are dug in but face new resistance in the city. And a warning, this report includes graphic⁵ descriptions of violence.

ALICE FORDHAM, BYLINE⁶: In an overcrowded camp for displaced people in northern Iraq, I meet a woman sitting on the ground. She has a blue headscarf and frightened green eyes.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Through interpreter) I came 10 days ago.

FORDHAM: She fled Mosul, and she's still so terrified of ISIS, she won't give her name. She says the extremists set up checkpoints to stop people leaving, but she paid a smuggler⁷ to get her out because she believes Iraq's offensive to take the city back is coming soon. She says ISIS has put up defenses.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Through interpreter) Yes, they put up barricades⁸, so then we were afraid that the battle would begin.

FORDHAM: Iraqi officials say an assault could begin any time.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Through interpreter) The families in Mosul, if they had a way to leave, of course they would take it. They would run away from the shelling. But I don't know if they can.

FORDHAM: She says the militants running the city have become increasingly paranoid in recent months, banning televisions and conducting house searches for sim cards and cellphones. Another woman comes over to me, tall and energetic, eager to tell her story. She, too, says she thinks ISIS feels threatened.

UM YAHYA: (Through interpreter) They became more extreme with us. They told us that because we don't practice the Islamic religion they're losing their battles.

FORDHAM: She wouldn't give her name either, just a nickname, Um Yahya. She fled just three days ago. She's a nurse and says ISIS' religious police have been using the hospital where she works as a headquarters. She believes they do it because the U.S.-led coalition⁹ won't strike a hospital. Life under ISIS was always brutal, but she says the militants have got worse.

UM YAHYA: (Through interpreter) My son told me that he saw them with scissors in the market. If anyone mentions liberation, they cut out their tongue.

FORDHAM: That was this week. Um Yahya says she herself saw three men with their mouths sewn shut as punishment for talking about the coming offensive. But in private, her family did talk about it, anticipated it.

UM YAHYA: (Through interpreter) The young men are ready. They're ready. My son and his friends, they say that when the army comes they will help ISIS.

FORDHAM: She says the men of Mosul were beaten in front of their women and humiliated¹⁰, and they will fight back when they get the chance. And some are doing it already. Graffiti, like ISIS are dogs, appeared on the walls, and a group known as the resistance assassinated¹¹ ISIS leaders.

UM YAHYA: (Through interpreter) Yes, the resistance killed them, and they wrote M on their doors.

FORDHAM: The M is for muqawama, the Arabic for resistance. Security officials tell NPR they hope these groups will rise up against ISIS when the offensive begins. Um Yahya also says she doesn't see senior ISIS figures on the street anymore. And a taxi driver friend says he drove some of them to the Syrian border. I ask if she thinks it will be a hard fight for the Iraqi security forces to take the city back.

UM YAHYA: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: "So easy," she says, "so easy." But previous attempts to take towns from ISIS have taken months. And they're expected to have some supporters in Mosul, a city they've held for two years. Um Yahya wants to go home, but it could be months before she can. Alice Fordham, NPR News, Erbil, northern Iraq.

1 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

3 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

4 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。

5 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 smuggler   

n.走私者

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight, awaiting extradition to Britain. 这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• The smuggler was finally obliged to inform against his boss. 那个走私犯最后不得不告发他的首领。

8 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

9 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

10 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。

11 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句