VOA常速英语2008年-US Airstrike in Somalia Targets al-Qaida Suspec

By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
03 March 2008

In Somalia, several dozen residents of Dobley town, near the Kenyan border, are reportedly trying to cross into Kenya following a U.S. military air strike that was aimed at terror suspects in the area. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has details from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.

Eyewitness¹ Abdi Mohamed Ali tells VOA that the residents of Dobley, about six kilometers from the Kenyan border, were shaken from their beds early Monday by a huge explosion that flattened² a house in the middle of town.

Ali says he does not know who was in the house or who carried out the attack, but he says residents believe it was a bomb dropped by a plane, seen flying over the town in recent days. He says many people are leaving Dobley for fear of another air strike.

In Washington, U.S. officials have confirmed that two missiles were launched at targets in Dobley. They say the targets were known Islamic terrorists, but have declined to give further details.

In an interview with Agence France-Presse news agency, local Somali elders and a senior leader of the al-Qaida-linked Somali al-Shabaab group, Muktar Robow, claimed a U.S. Air Force AC-130 plane, hunting for Islamic militant³ hideouts, bombed three targets, including two houses.

VOA was not able to verify a local elder's statement that four civilians⁴ were killed in the attack.

The radical⁵ Shabaab group, which had largely self-dissolved following Ethiopia's December, 2006 military campaign to remove Somali Islamists from power, is believed to have reconstituted its fighting force during the past year. It has fully⁶ adopted Iraq-style guerrilla tactics to lead a bloody⁷, year-long insurgency⁸ in Mogadishu and in other parts of the country against Ethiopian forces, the transitional government, and African Union peacekeepers.

The Shabaab functioned as the militant wing of the ousted⁹ Islamic Courts Union, whose top leaders are in exile in Eritrea. But in early February, the Shabaab broke off ties with the courts, complaining that its leadership was not committed to establishing Islamic rule throughout the world through jihad.

Late last month, a skirmish between supporters of the Islamic Courts Union and Shabaab fighters reportedly killed several people in Dobley before the town was seized by forces loyal to Hassan Turki, a Shabaab leader in the Lower Juba area.

1 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

2 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

3 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。

4 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。

5 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

8 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

9 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。