VOA标准英语2008年-Two Ugandan Peacekeepers Killed in Somalia

Another Ugandan peacekeeper has been killed by Islamist insurgents¹ in the Somali capital Mogadishu, the second soldier to die there in as many days. A militant² Somali Islamist group called the Shabab has taken responsibility for the latest attacks on Ugandan peacekeeping troops, who make up the bulk of the African Union mission in Somalia. As VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu reports from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi, the Shabab has also threatened to shut down the main airport in the capital.

The spokesman for the African Union mission in Somalia Barigye Ba-Hoku says the latest attack on Ugandan peacekeepers took place early Monday near the international airport, where the majority of Uganda's contingent³ of about 1,600 troops has been based since they arrived in Mogadishu in March, 2007.

"This morning, Monday, at about 7:45, a small group of our field engineers moved out and they were hit by an improvised⁴ explosive device, which claimed the life of one of our soldiers and injured two," he said.

The roadside bombing followed Sunday's deadly clash with Islamist insurgents on a road the Ugandans regularly patrol in south Mogadishu. Insurgents using small arms opened fire on a military convoy⁵ from the rooftops of civilian⁶ homes, triggering a firefight in a heavily-populated area.

One Ugandan soldier died and two others were wounded. Local media reports say as many as 25 people were also hit by stray bullets.

Shabab militants⁷, whose leaders have boasted of having ties to the al-Qaida terror network, took responsibility for Sunday's attack and is thought to have carried out Monday's roadside bombing. The group has claimed responsibility for several other Iraq-style attacks on African Union troops.

Last month, Shabab spokesman Sheikh Muktar Rowbow warned that his fighters were planning to attack African Union peacekeepers from Uganda and another smaller group of peacekeepers from Burundi. Robow accused them of acting⁸ as mercenaries for Somalia's transitional federal government and for the government's chief backer, Ethiopia.

In June, Shabab fighters and other Islamist hardliners rejected a U.N.-sponsored peace deal signed between the Somali government and an Islamist-led opposition⁹ faction¹⁰ led by Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed. Like the Shabab, Ahmed's group wants a complete withdrawal¹¹ of Ethiopian troops from the country, but unlike the Shabab, it supports African Union and United Nations intervention¹² in Somalia.

Since the signing of the accord, cracks that appeared earlier in the alliance between Islamist insurgents loyal to Ahmed and the hardliners seem to have deepened.

On Saturday, the Shabab issued an ultimatum¹³ to the Somali government to close down the main airport in Mogadishu by Tuesday or face an unspecified threat. The group claimed the airport generates money for Ethiopia and is being used by American and Israeli spies.

A day later, a spokesman for insurgents loyal to Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed said the airport was too vital to the Somali people to be shut down and vowed¹⁴ to keep it open.

Somalia's insurgency¹⁵ began shortly after Ethiopian troops launched a military campaign in late 2006 to oust¹⁶ the Islamic Courts Union from power. The fighting has claimed the lives of thousands of people and has left several million others in dire¹⁷ need of humanitarian¹⁸ assistance.

1 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

2 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。

3 contingent   

adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队

参考例句：

• The contingent marched in the direction of the Western Hills.队伍朝西山的方向前进。
• Whether or not we arrive on time is contingent on the weather.我们是否按时到达要视天气情况而定。

4 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

5 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

6 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。

7 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。

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 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。

10 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。

11 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

12 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

13 ultimatum   

n.最后通牒

参考例句：

• This time the proposal was couched as an ultimatum.这一次该提议是以最后通牒的形式提出来的。
• The cabinet met today to discuss how to respond to the ultimatum.内阁今天开会商量如何应对这道最后通牒。

14 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。

15 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

16 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

17 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

18 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。