VOA标准英语2014--Kenyan Coastal Town Struggles With Deadly June Attacks

 

Kenyan Coastal¹ Town Struggles With Deadly June Attacks

MPEKETONI, KENYA—

Relative calm has returned to the Kenyan coastal town of Mpeketoni, southwest of Lamu, after deadly attacks claimed by the militant² group al-Shabab killed more than 100 people in June, local police said.

Three months after the attacks, some residents are still bitter about the assaults and question who or what group was really responsible.  

While much has changed in the life of Mary Wanjiku in the past three months, her routine remains³ the same.

Feels community targeted

The restaurant owner lost her husband in the first deadly attack in June, when more than 60 people were killed. Wanjiku is still bitter and feels her community was targeted.

"You know some people are jealous of us, they don't want to see us prosper,” Wanjiku said. “There are other houses that were not touched, especially those which belonged to other communities [indigenous people]. They attacked the houses of one community [Kikuyu community]."

Between June and July, gunmen attacked civilians⁴ and security forces in the town.

While Somalia's al-Shabab militants⁵ have claimed responsibility for many of the assaults, high-level government officials, including President Uhuru Kenyatta, have suggested local politicians had a hand in some of the attacks.

Some people questioned the tactics used to carry out the killings⁶.

Noel Kitese, a local pastor⁷, said, "Like we get to understand the approach and the way it was done. There was element - like it was terrorism - but we can also see it’s not too much terrorism because they were selecting people, so in terrorism attacks all over the country there is no selection they just bomb people."

The attackers are long gone, but the town is left with scars that run deep and are yet to heal.

'All we need is peace'

But others – such as Salome Wanjiru, who lost her husband just days after giving birth to their third child - she is ready to forgive the assailants for the sake of peace.

"Here, all we need is peace, to live peacefully,” Wanjiru said. “All of us are from here. We are all Kenyans we need to love each other and live in peace."

That peace and normalcy is far away as the town has been under curfew for the past two months, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

The curfew will continue, at least until security officials said they are certain there will be no more attacks on the town and the nearby coastal area.

1 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

2 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。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

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 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。

6 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

7 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。