VOA慢速英语--巴基斯坦拘捕200余名疑似武装分子

AS IT IS 2016-03-31 Pakistan Detains More than 200 Suspected Militants¹ 巴基斯坦拘捕200余名疑似武装分子

Police and security forces have arrested more than 200 suspected Islamist militants after a suicide bombing in Lahore on Sunday.

The attack took place at a crowded public park in the capital of Punjab, the most populous² province of the country. At least 72 people, many of them Christians³ celebrating Easter, were killed.

Twenty-nine children were among the dead. More than 300 people were wounded.

Tuesday, the provincial⁴ law minister told reporters that more than 5,000 people were detained. He said they later released all but 216 people. Police and special counter-terrorism units have taken part in many raids across Punjab.

Pakistani officials said intelligence agencies and troops also carried out raids against suspected “sleeper cells” and “terrorist hideouts” in several cities of Punjab.

Jammaatul Ahrar, a group that once was part of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the bombing. It said the suicide attacker targeted Christians. A spokesman promised that the group would carry out more attacks in Punjab.

The threat caused officials to temporarily close all of the public parks in the province. The spokesman also threatened to attack local media.

“Everyone will get their turn in this war, especially the slave Pakistani media. We are just waiting for the appropriate time,” the spokesman said on the social networking site Twitter.

The Easter Sunday bombing was the deadliest attack in Pakistan since a raid by militants on a school in Peshawar in December 2014. Almost 150 people were killed, most of them children.

The Pakistani Taliban and groups linked to it have attacked the government for more than 10 years. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the attacks.

Words in This Story

park - n. a large area of public land

Easter - n. religious holiday when Christians celebrate the return of Jesus after his execution

unit - n. group

appropriate - adj. right for some purpose or situation

1 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。

2 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

3 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

4 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。