VOA常速英语2008年-Blasts in Somalia's Puntland Region Kill 20

By Derek Kilner
Nairobi
06 February 2008

Two explosions have killed at least 20 people in the port town of Bosasso in the semi-autonomous¹ Puntland region of Somalia.  As Derek Kilner reports from VOA's East Africa Bureau in Nairobi, Puntland has generally avoided the violence that has long plagued Somalia.

Puntland government officials said most of the victims were Ethiopian migrants who were likely preparing to cross the Gulf² of Aden to Yemen from the port of Bosasso.

Puntland's Minister of Information, Abdulrahman Mohamed Banga said 67 people were injured in the attack late Tuesday, though witnesses have put the figure at more than 100.

Banga said the attack targeted two adjacent Ethiopian-owned restaurants.  Thousands of migrants from Ethiopia and Southern Somalia use Bosasso as a launching point for the dangerous passage by water to Yemen.  Hundreds die each year attempting the voyage.

Banga said the attacks could be a response to the Puntland government's ties to Ethiopia.

"Well actually we do not know.  We are just looking.  We cannot say exactly who is after that.  Maybe political, those who are against Ethiopian relations in Puntland or against Ethiopian relations to the Somalia Federal Government," he said.

Like the Transitional Federal Government in Southern Somalia, and the breakaway region of Somaliland, Puntland is backed by the Ethiopian government.  Puntland's president Adde Muse³ Hersi left for Ethiopia on Monday to discuss economic and security relations between the countries.

Mr. Banga said residents of Bosasso were "shocked" by the blast.  Puntland has remained relatively⁴ peaceful, in contrast to the conflict in southern Somalia.  Ethiopian troops backing the transitional government there have been fighting an Islamist-led insurgency⁵ based in the capital, Mogadishu.

Puntland declared autonomous status in 1998, and unlike neighboring Somiland, hopes to eventually join a united federal Somalia.

1 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 muse   

n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感

参考例句：

• His muse had deserted him,and he could no longer write.他已无灵感，不能再写作了。
• Many of the papers muse on the fate of the President.很多报纸都在揣测总统的命运。

4 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

5 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