VOA标准英语 Gang Violence Turns Deadly in Central Kenya

Kenyan police say at least 29 people have died after members of a criminal gang clashed with residents of a village in central Kenya. The incident is the latest sign of tensions between the Mungiki gang and communities in the area.
　
A woman mourns the death of her son after residents decided¹ to fight back against the Mungiki, a violent mafia-like extortionist group in Central Kenya, 21 Apr 2009

Residents of the Karatina area of central Kenya awoke to the sight of dead bodies lying in the village roads. Kenyan officials say more bodies could turn up.

Police officials described a clash between the Mungiki gang and members of the public. But Central Province commissioner³ Kiplimo Rugut told VOA the Mungiki gang appeared to be behind the bulk of the killings⁵, retaliating⁶ against earlier attacks by residents of the area.

"Members of the public for the last one week have refused basically to yield to the pressure by members of the proscribed⁷ Mungiki group to extort² money from them, to harass⁸ them, and generally make life difficult for everybody including the business community, members of the public, farmers and everybody else," he said.

In the past week, villagers in the area had formed vigilante groups and killed at least 12 people suspected of being Mungiki members. Rugut said the latest attack appeared to be a reaction to that violence.

"Now in the course of the night we believe the Mungiki regrouped in retaliation⁹ now to this, because the attack had the hallmark of a Mungiki attack," he said. "We are observing the gruesome mutilation of hands, mutilation of legs, hacking¹⁰ of necks."

Police say that 37 people have been arrested, and several machetes and other weapons have been confiscated¹¹.

Spokesman Njuguna Gitau of the Kenya National Youth Alliance, an organization widely seen as the Mungiki's "political arm", said the attacks were carried out by a vigilante group, with the cooperation of Kenyan officials.

"This vigilante group has been given the mandate¹² to go from house to house, flushing out the so-called suspected Mungiki members and killing⁴ them brutally," he said. "The vigilante group had vowed¹³ yesterday to extend the operation all over Central Kenya"

The Mungiki is Kenya's most notorious gang, famous for beheading some of its victims. The group's members, estimated in the thousands, are largely drawn¹⁴ from poor, young, men from the Kikuyu ethnic¹⁵ group, Kenya's largest and most powerful.

The group has been linked to Kenyan political leaders, particularly during post-election violence in early 2008.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 extort   

v.勒索，敲诈，强要

参考例句：

• The blackmailer tried to extort a large sum of money from him.勒索者企图向他勒索一大笔钱。
• They absolutely must not harm the people or extort money from them.严格禁止坑害勒索群众。

3 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

4 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。

5 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。

6 retaliating   

v.报复，反击( retaliate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The administration will begin retaliating in six weeks if EC policies remain unchanged. 凯特先生说，如果欧共体一意孤行，美国政府将于六周后开始报复。 来自互联网

7 proscribed   

v.正式宣布（某事物）有危险或被禁止( proscribe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They are proscribed by federal law from owning guns. 根据联邦法律的规定，他们不准拥有枪支。 来自辞典例句
• In earlier days, the church proscribed dancing and cardplaying. 从前，教会禁止跳舞和玩牌。 来自辞典例句

8 harass   

vt.使烦恼，折磨，骚扰

参考例句：

• Our mission is to harass the landing of the main Japaness expeditionary force.我们的任务是骚乱日本远征军主力的登陆。
• They received the order to harass the enemy's rear.他们接到骚扰敌人后方的命令。

9 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

11 confiscated   

没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their land was confiscated after the war. 他们的土地在战后被没收。
• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。

12 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

13 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。

14 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

15 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。