VOA常速英语2008年-Iraqi Civilian Casualties Rise, Reversing Six-M

By Daniel Schearf
Irbil
01 March 2008

The Iraqi government says the number of civilians² who were killed rose by a third in February, reversing a six-month trend that came with security improvements.  A U.S. military spokesman says violence is still down across the country, despite a series of recent attacks.  Daniel Schearf reports from the northern Iraqi city of Irbil.

Figures released Saturday by Iraq's interior, defense³, and health ministries⁴ show that at least 630 Iraqi civilians were killed in February, a third more than in January.

The rising death toll⁵ follows months of lower casualty figures after a surge in U.S. troops and cooperation from some Sunni and Shi'ite militias⁶.

Several deadly suicide bombings helped push the monthly death toll back up.  In early February, two mentally impaired⁷ women detonated themselves in Baghdad pet markets, killing⁸ nearly a hundred people.

Another bomber⁹ killed more than 60 Shi'ite pilgrims traveling to the southern city of Karbala for an annual religious commemoration.

U.S. and Iraqi officials have blamed al-Qaida in Iraq for many of the recent bombings.  

Admiral Gregory Smith is a U.S. military spokesman.  In an interview this week, he told VOA that the recent attacks do not necessarily indicate a spike¹⁰ in violence as a whole.

"Any given week you might see an up tick or down tick, but I think since about the late September/October timeframe, we've seen a dramatic drop-off and those numbers continue through today," he said.

The U.S. military says violent attacks have fallen by 60 percent since June, when the U.S. sent 30,000 more troops to Iraq in what was called a surge.
 
Despite the jump in the February death toll, civilian¹ casualties are still lower than February 2007 when at least 1,600 Iraqis were killed.
 
U.S. casualty figures are also down.  In February last year, 81 U.S. troops were killed in Iraq.  This year 29 have been reported killed, down from 40 in January.

Also on Saturday, the U.S. military announced that coalition¹¹ forces have detained the leader of a suspected suicide vest cell north of Baghdad.  The military says the man was trying to recruit women, including his wife, to carry out suicide bombings.

1 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

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 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

5 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

6 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

7 impaired   

adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Much reading has impaired his vision. 大量读书损害了他的视力。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His hearing is somewhat impaired. 他的听觉已受到一定程度的损害。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

10 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

11 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。