VOA标准英语2008年-Somalia Violence Drives Out Aid Workers

A string of kidnappings and targeted killings¹ of aid workers in Somalia in recent weeks has prompted some international and local agencies to suspend operations in Mogadishu and in other parts of the south. As VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu reports from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi, there is confusion about who may be responsible for the violence.

The head of a Somali group affiliated² with the German charity Bread for the World says the organization has suspended operations in Somalia, following Friday's fatal shooting death of its deputy director at his home in Mogadishu.

In a separate attack earlier that day, the head of a local aid organization, SORDA, was critically wounded by gunmen, as he distributed food to internally displaced people south of the capital. Also on Friday, an aid worker was reportedly shot to death in a town in central Somalia as he left his house to attend services at a nearby mosque³.

Eight days ago, gunmen shot and killed the director of the U.N. Development Program in Mogadishu. Leaflets threatening local aid workers with death if they continue working have been found in Mogadishu and elsewhere.

On Sunday, UNDP staff withdrew from the town of Baidoa, which hosts Somalia's transitional parliament, amid rising security concerns for its employees in the country.

The director of Mogadishu's Medina Hospital, Dr. Mohamed Yusuf, says even veteran humanitarian⁴ workers who have survived 17 years of lawlessness and violence in Somalia, acknowledge the current security situation is the worst they have faced.

"Yes, they are afraid," he said. "Some of our colleagues, they got some threats. But you know, the situation is not so easy to talk about."

Suspicion for the attacks has fallen on a hardline Islamist opposition⁵ faction⁶ based in Eritrea, which rejected a peace deal signed last month in Djibouti between the Ethiopia-backed government and a more moderate opposition faction. The hardline Islamists, along with a militant⁷ Somali group called the Shabab, have vowed⁸ to continue fighting until all Ethiopian troops leave Somalia.

Ethiopia's military intervened in Somalia in late 2006 to remove Islamists from power and to install the country's secular⁹ government in its place. That move sparked a bloody¹⁰, Islamist-led insurgency¹¹, which has left thousands dead and more than one million people displaced.

Through a combination of war, drought, and food shortages, the United Nations says three million people in Somalia are facing a catastrophic humanitarian crisis throughout the country.

International and local humanitarian organizations have declined to speak publicly about who may be responsible for the attacks. But one western aid worker, speaking on the condition of anonymity¹², tells VOA that there is no evidence to suggest that Islamist insurgents¹³ are involved.

　

 

1 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

2 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

3 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

4 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。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

7 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

8 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

9 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

10 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

11 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

12 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

13 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网