轰炸叙利亚人类付出代价

AS IT IS 2015-10-10 Syrian Bombings Have a Human Cost 轰炸叙利亚人类付出代价

As the conflict in Syria continues, rights groups are documenting the human cost of cheap explosives.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights says Syrian army helicopters dropped more than 1,700 barrel bombs last month. Those attacks are said to have killed at least 103 people, including 25 children and 15 women. But statistics like that do not tell everything about the bombing. 

Thirteen-year-old Ahmed and eleven-year-old Nizar both survived barrel bomb attacks. The force from the explosions nearly crushed them. They suffered severe injuries. But they are alive and learning to deal with their injuries.

Ahmed is partially¹ paralyzed, unable to move anything below his chest. He has only recently started to use his hands and arms. But the rest of his body will most likely never be able to move again.

Others were unable to cheer up Ahmed when he arrived at a post-operative field hospital in the Turkish border town of Kilis. The boy had just learned that his father and sister died in an explosion in Aleppo.

Ali Ahmed is a medical worker.

“He was very aggressive, he was very angry and without any movement in the forearms and his legs. After some treatment ...he is moving his hands now. And now you see him. Now he is optimistic. But I think he is frightened to think in the future and the past.”

Ahmed now can smile and show how he is able to use his hands to hold his one-year-old brother by his bedside. Ahmed’s mother explains that he can now play video games on a tablet computer. Ahmed gives a thumbs-up, a sign that he is feeling better. It has taken him weeks to be able to do the simple movement. It is the result of his strength and the work of the Syrian refugee doctors. The doctors work in a 47-bed hospital operated by the International Blue Crescent.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported this week on the Syrian government’s use of barrel bombs. First used in August 2012, they are simple devices: oil drums or other containers filled with the explosive TNT and pieces of metal. Barrel bombs also can contain fuel or even harmful gases.

The United Nations Security Council condemned² the use of barrel bombs in February 2014. The Syrian Network for Human Rights says almost 9,000 people have been killed in barrel bomb attacks since the U.N. resolution was passed. The group says 95 percent of those killed were civilians³. About one-third were children.

Nizar also was hurt in a barrel bomb explosion. Nizar grew up in the Syrian city of Homs. The 11-year-old says he was playing outside with other children when they heard an explosion. He ran into a building but was caught in a second explosion. Nizar lost his right arm and his left was hurt badly in the explosion.

Doctors at the hospital are numbed⁴ by the tragedies and wonder why, after four years, more has not been done in Syria.

The conflict continues. Reporters say Islamic State militants⁵ want civilians to leave the town of Raqqa. The town is, reports say, faced with deadly bombing from Russian warplanes. Islamic State commanders have been preparing the town for a possible attack. The actions have put additional pressure on civilians there.

Words in This Story

cheap – adj. not costing a lot of money; low-cost

statistics – n. numbers that represent information related to how often something is done, cost or other information about people or things

paralyzed – adj. being unable to move or feel all or parts of the body

optimistic – adj. showing hope for the future; expecting good thing to happen

numbed – adj. unable to feel or react normally because of shock

1 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

2 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

3 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。

4 numbed   

v.使麻木，使麻痹( numb的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His mind has been numbed. 他已麻木不仁。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was numbed with grief. 他因悲伤而昏迷了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

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。