中东－伊斯兰武装分子声称为克什么米尔袭击事件负责

 

Islamic Militants² Claim Responsibility for

Kashmir Attack

 

Islamic militants have claimed responsibility for an attack on a government guesthouse being used to shelter passengers on the first bus to cross between the Indian and Pakistani sides of Kashmir for more than 50 years.

 

Gunshots ring out while bright orange flames engulf³ the roof of the government tourist office in Srinagar. It is not clear how the fire started or who fired the shots, which come as emergency workers and security personnel work to put out a blaze that sends plumes⁴ of black smoke into the sky.

 

The building was being used by security forces as a guest house, providing protection for many of the two dozen passengers due to take the first bus from the Indian to the Pakistani sides of Kashmir on Thursday. It is unclear whether the passengers or any others in the building, which housed several offices, were injured.

 

Farooq, an employee of Indian Airlines, says he and two colleagues helped evacuate⁵ 30 people from the building. Unaware⁶ there was a fire, he said, they were waiting until the shooting stopped before trying to escape the building.

 

Farooq: And then we saw some fire and the smoke coming out, so I sent all the women folks and everybody out. We two were left there. We had a third colleague also, I do not know about him right now. He could manage to break open the window ... I do not know how he managed that. Then we jumped out of the window.

 

Four Islamic militant¹ groups claimed responsibility later in the day for what they said was a suicide attack on the building complex. So far there has been no information from Indian security personnel as to how the attack was carried off.

 

Hundreds of security personnel have been deployed⁷ throughout Srinagar and along the 170-kilometer route the bus is due to take Thursday. It is the first time the crossing at Kashmir's de-facto border, called the Line of Control, has been opened to civilians⁸ since India and Pakistan were given independence by Britain in 1947.

 

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which each has claimed as its own since independence.

 

Since 1989, Islamic militants have fought an insurgency⁹ in the two-thirds of Kashmir that India controls, seeking either merger¹⁰ with Pakistan, or independence.

 

In the past few days, militant groups have issued repeated threats against the passengers preparing for the historic bus ride. The government took the passengers into protective custody¹¹ following the threats.

 

New Delhi and Islamabad have undertaken a series of so-called "confidence-building measures" to resolve the Kashmir conflict during the past year, and the opening of the bus link is the latest. Analysts¹² describe the link as a huge step forward for the people of Kashmir, because it will reunite families divided by decades of political animosity.

 

Farhat Ara's husband had been staying at the guest-house since Saturday. Just hours before the attack, she said she was worried for his safety. But she says her husbands' visit to the Pakistani side was too important for him to change his mind.

 

She said he has not been to see his family in years, and his father died in 1991, so he would like to visit the grave. Also, her husband's brother and his sick sister and aunt are there, and he would like to see them at least once.

 

Despite the attack, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is still expected to come to Srinagar to see the bus off on Thursday. Another bus is due to depart from the Pakistani side of Kashmir, bound for India, later the same day.

 

Patricia Nunan, VOA news, Srinagar.

 

注释：

guesthouse [5^esthaus] n. 上等旅社，宾馆

engulf [in5^Qlf] vt. 卷入，吞没

Srinagar [7sri:5nQ^E(r)] 斯利那加（南亚克什米尔西部城市）

colleague [5kCli:^] n. 同事，同僚

evacuate [i5vAkjueit] v. 疏散，撤出

break open 砸开

protective custody （警方）保护性监禁，保护性拘留

grave [^reiv] n. 墓穴，坟墓

depart from 离开

bound for 驶往

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 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。

3 engulf   

vt.吞没，吞食

参考例句：

• Floodwaters engulf a housing project in the Bajo Yuna community in central Dominican Republic.洪水吞没了多米尼加中部巴杰优那社区的一处在建的住房工程项目。
• If we are not strong enough to cover all the minds up,then they will engulf us,and we are in danger.如果我们不够坚强来抵挡大众的意念，就会有被他们吞没的危险。

4 plumes   

羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物

参考例句：

• The dancer wore a headdress of pink ostrich plumes. 那位舞蹈演员戴着粉色鸵鸟毛制作的头饰。
• The plumes on her bonnet barely moved as she nodded. 她点点头，那帽子的羽毛在一个劲儿颤动。

5 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

6 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

7 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

8 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。

9 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

10 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

11 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

12 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。