美国国家公共电台 NPR Life Inches Back To Normal In East Mosul, But Worries Remain

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The Tigris River divides Mosul, Iraq. ISIS has held the western side of that city for more than two years. And Iraqi forces backed by U.S. airpower retook the eastern side of the city a couple of months ago. They're now preparing to cross the river to try to retake the remaining ISIS area. NPR's Alice Fordham is in Iraq and joins us. Alice, thanks for being with us.

ALICE FORDHAM, BYLINE¹: Good morning, Scott.

SIMON: What can you tell us about the preparations to take on ISIS in western Mosul?

FORDHAM: Well, American and Iraqi military officials say they've stepped up airstrikes. That's something that's confirmed by civilians² still on the ground in western Mosul. A lot of troops have moved to the south of the city in preparation for the offensive. It seems like that's where most of the fighting is going to start. The bridges across the Tigris and the city itself were actually destroyed in the fighting. So they have to use bridges south of the city. There are reports they've set up floating pontoons also. We know it's anticipated that this will be a hard fight, maybe even harder than the eastern side of the city.

SIMON: How is the eastern side of the city that's been retaken from ISIS doing now?

FORDHAM: Well, of course, after it was retaken, there was celebration. One reason for that is that the fight to take it back from ISIS didn't leave it in as bad a state as we've seen in other similar situations in Iraq. And the Iraqi security forces use different tactics to keep the people in their homes and preserve the infrastructure³ in place. So that's something that people are happy about, but it doesn't mean that everything is exactly OK now. It had been a very troubled place for a decade before ISIS took it. And there's a lot of dispute about who's actually in control there now. I was there last week and was able to talk to people about what life has been like. I can play you some of those voices now.

In the eastern half of Mosul in cinderblock neighborhoods that lived under ISIS for more than two years, there's a strong sense of relief that the battle to free that part of the city is over.

WAAD AL AMERI: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: The first thing that's changed is that the security situation, it's OK, says Waad al Ameri, a local leader here and also a civil servant in a tax office.

AMERI: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: Sure, he says, there aren't services yet. There's no electricity. And the United Nations is having to truck in water, but he says they're safe.

AMERI: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: When ISIS was in control, there was shelling and airstrikes. And then, this winter, there were months of heavy fighting as the extremists battled Iraqi security forces. I asked Ameri what he thinks the next few months hold.

AMERI: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: "Well, the government would bring back services," he says, "and the security will improve." But as I walk through this rural area, although it seems really peaceful, not everyone shares Ameri's optimism because there are still threats.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: I speak with a teacher named Zainab Abdeljabbar.

ZAINAB ABDELJABBAR: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: She says there was a drone, an ISIS drone, the previous day that dropped a bomb on a family gathering⁴ in a house very nearby. She points to it. Four people were injured. The drone probably came from somewhere in eastern Mosul. To get more insight into what ISIS is still able to do in eastern Mosul, I Skype with Brigadier General Matthew Isler with the U.S. forces assisting in Iraq who confirms the extremists are using armed drones.

MATTHEW ISLER: What they've not been able to do is precisely⁵ target. Instead, they are looking for large gatherings⁶ and dropping on civilians there. And it is just another example of the atrocities⁷ that they commit.

FORDHAM: There have also been a few suicide bomb and sniper attacks. Isler also says ISIS - whom he refers to as Daesh - are firing mortars⁸ from the west side of Mosul, which they still hold, into the eastern half of the city.

ISLER: Each day, over the past several days, Daesh has been shooting between 70 and 100 projectiles⁹ per day from multiple locations.

FORDHAM: Not only is ISIS conducting attacks in eastern Mosul, but there are questions too about the forces holding this part of the city. There's competition for control and resources with some locals feeling they've been edged out in favor of national troops.

(CROSSTALK)

FORDHAM: I meet for tea with men from the Nineveh Guard, one of the local forces. One of their commanders, General Mohammed Saleh, wishes his men had more power and were stationed in the center of the city, not on the edge.

MOHAMMED SALEH: (Through interpreter) It was an unfair decision against the Nineveh Guards. All of us are from Mosul and we know the city streets and the ins and outs of the city. We know who's working with the terrorists there.

FORDHAM: The general is also highly critical of other forces here. The grumbling¹⁰ doesn't seem to bode¹¹ well for the chances this patchwork¹² of troops can work together against the real threat still posed by ISIS here. Alice Fordham, NPR News, Mosul.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 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。

3 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

6 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

7 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 mortars   

n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵

参考例句：

• They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Where the hell are his mortars? 他有迫击炮吗？ 来自教父部分

9 projectiles   

n.抛射体( projectile的名词复数 )；（炮弹、子弹等）射弹，（火箭等）自动推进的武器

参考例句：

• These differences are connected with the strong absorption of the composite projectiles. 这些差别与复杂的入射粒子的强烈吸收有关。 来自辞典例句
• Projectiles became more important because cannons could now fire balls over hundreds or yards. 抛射体变得更加重要，因为人们已能用大炮把炮弹射到几百码的距离之外。 来自辞典例句

10 grumbling   

adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的

参考例句：

• She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
• We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。

11 bode   

v.预示

参考例句：

• These figures do not bode well for the company's future.这些数字显示出公司的前景不妙。
• His careful habits bode well for his future.他那认真的习惯预示著他会有好的前途。

12 patchwork   

n.混杂物；拼缝物

参考例句：

• That proposal is nothing else other than a patchwork.那个建议只是一个大杂烩而已。
• She patched new cloth to the old coat,so It'seemed mere patchwork. 她把新布初到那件旧上衣上，所以那件衣服看上去就象拼凑起来的东西。