美国有线新闻 CNN 数周来首批援助物资进入东古塔 叙停火协议未阻止冲突升级

 

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: I'm Carl Azuz for CNN 10. Give us 10 minutes, we'll give you an explanation of news events happening around the world.

That includes what's going on right now in the Middle Eastern nation of Syria. For the first time in two weeks, a convoy¹ of 46 trucks was able to get in and out of eastern Ghouta. This is a suburb of eastern capital of Damascus. It's an area controlled by a rebel group that's fighting the government in Syria's ongoing² civil war.

The rebels in eastern Ghouta have been surrounded for years and many of the civilians³ who are there, there are hundreds of thousands of them are desperately⁴ in need of humanitarian⁵ aid, like food and medical supplies. A representative for the United Nations says the convoy was inside eastern Ghouta for almost nine hours but that the trucks had to leave before they were all unloaded. Fighting was going on in the area at the time and nine of the trucks returned still full of supplies.

A little over two weeks ago, Syrian government forces who are supported by Russia launched a major offensive in eastern Ghouta. Hundreds of people have been killed since then. The Syrian government says that shells launched from rebels in eastern Ghouta had killed dozens of people in Damascus.

This is supposed to be a de-escalation zone, a place where civilians won't be targeted by anyone fighting in the war. But the violence is all around them.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's no sign of a ceasefire or that so-called humanitarian pause in fighting that was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin in eastern Ghouta. The accounts that we're getting from on the ground from activists⁶ and rescue groups, they say that airstrikes and artillery⁷ shelling continue to pound different parts of that rebel-held territory.

Both sides are continuing to blame each other for the failure of any truce⁸. You've got the regime on the one hand saying it is the rebel groups that they described as terrorist groups operating in eastern Ghouta that are targeting the routes that would lead to the humanitarian corridor to sop⁹ civilians from leaving so that they could continue to hold them as hostages and as human shields, according to the regime. On the other hand, the rebels and the activists say it is the Russians and it is the regime who are continuing to carry out these strikes on different parts of this area, including areas close to the humanitarian corridor.

When it comes to the civilians, the population in eastern Ghouta from what we've heard in the past few days, they say they don't want to leave their homes. They don't want to leave the area. What they want is for the bombing to stop and for humanitarian aid to come in. With no end in sight to the violence that we're seeing in eastern Ghouta, the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies are calling yet again, they're still calling for a ceasefire, they say, so they can deliver desperately needed humanitarian aid into the area and to evacuate¹⁰ those who are in urgent need of medical attention, people — a population that's estimated to be about 400,000 people living in this area, under siege for nearly five years.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Amman.

1 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

2 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

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 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

8 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

9 sop   

n.湿透的东西，懦夫；v.浸，泡，浸湿

参考例句：

• I used a mop to sop up the spilled water.我用拖把把泼出的水擦干。
• The playground was a mere sop.操场很湿。

10 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。