VOA常速英语2008年-Somali Militants Behead 3 Government Soldiers

By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
14 March 2008

In a fresh sign that militant¹ Muslim fighters in Somalia have adopted tactics used by the al-Qaida terror network, Somalia's radical² Islamist Shabab group has beheaded three government soldiers guarding a road northwest of the capital Mogadishu. It is the first case of beheadings in the country since an Islamist-led insurgency³ against Somalia's Ethiopian-backed interim⁴ government began more than a year ago and comes amid a new initiative by the interim prime minister to engage opposition⁵ groups in peace talks with the government. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has details from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.

Shabab fighters, armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, ambushed⁶ a government checkpoint Thursday near Lego, a village on the road that links the capital Mogadishu with the seat of Somalia's transitional parliament in Baidoa and continues on to Ethiopia.

The chief administrator⁷ of Lego, Abukar Abdullahi Sheik Isaq, tells VOA that shocked residents later discovered that three of the government soldiers killed in the firefight had been beheaded.

The administrator says residents were horrified⁸ when they saw the soldiers' headless bodies. He says most Somalis believe that beheading people is inhuman⁹, immoral¹⁰ and against the spirit of Islam.

In a telephone interview with VOA from an undisclosed location, the spokesman of the Shabab and one of its senior commanders, Sheik Muktar Robow, said Shabab fighters beheaded the soldiers because Somali security forces ignored a warning to stop guarding the road, which is used by Ethiopian troops to ferry troops and supplies into Somalia.

Robow says his group will not hesitate to behead more soldiers, if they do not dismantle¹¹ all checkpoints and leave the area.

The radical Shabab group, which was founded in Mogadishu four years ago by an Afghanistan-trained Somali militant, is believed to have gained thousands of new recruits since Ethiopia, with U.S. support, led a military campaign in late 2006 to topple Somalia's Islamic Courts Union. A U.N.-recognized secular¹² interim government was installed in its place, and Ethiopian troops remained in Somalia to protect the government from a fierce Islamist-led insurgency.

Last week, Ethiopia's close ally and president of the interim government, Abdullahi Yusuf, accused the al-Qaida terror network of sending foreign fighters trained in Afghanistan to train and support Shabab fighters in Somalia.

Hinting that the allegation may have merit, Muktar Robow accused the Somali leader of being hypocritical for welcoming foreign troops to Somalia, but not foreign fighters.

The Shabab commander said, "Abdullahi Yusuf is allowing soldiers trained in Ethiopia to operate in Somalia. What would be the difference if those trained in Afghanistan stay here with us?"

On Wednesday, Somalia's interim Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein announced that the government is ready to negotiate with any and all opponents and opposition groups to end the country's 15-month-old insurgency and begin the process of national reconciliation¹³.

It is still not clear whether that means the government is also extending an olive branch to the Shabab. President Yusuf has repeatedly said he will never negotiate with any group that has ties to terror organizations.

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 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。

3 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

4 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 ambushed   

v.埋伏( ambush的过去式和过去分词 )；埋伏着

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The military vehicles were ambushed. 军车遭到伏击。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

8 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

9 inhuman   

adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的

参考例句：

• We must unite the workers in fighting against inhuman conditions.我们必须使工人们团结起来反对那些难以忍受的工作条件。
• It was inhuman to refuse him permission to see his wife.不容许他去看自己的妻子是太不近人情了。

10 immoral   

adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的

参考例句：

• She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
• It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。

11 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

12 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

13 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。