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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
KABUL,March 23 (Xinhua) -- Criminal charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) were formally preferred Friday against U.S. Army Staff Sergeant1 Robert Bales, who killed 17 Afghan civilians2 earlier this month, said the U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
The charges against the U.S. soldier allege3 that,on or about March 11, Bales with premeditation did murder 17 Afghan civilians and assaulted and attempted to murder six other civilians at or near the Belambey army base, Panjwai district of south Afghanistan 's Kandahar province, the U.S. military said in a mid-night statement.
Previously4, Afghan officials in Kabul and local villagers in Panjwai believed that 16 civilians including nine children and three women were killed in the bloody5 pre-dawn shooting.
The shooting spree has sparked a strong anti-American fury in Afghanistan. Despite Afghans' strong demand that the suspect be tried publicly in the country, the U.S. side transferred the trouble-making soldier back to the United States out of "legal considerations."
The U.S. army statement said that Bales has been assigned to 2nd Battalion6, 3rd Infantry7 Regiment8 (Rear) (Provisional), headquartered at Joint9 Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, and currently he is in pre-trial confinement10 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
The charges could lead to the death penalty for the 38-year-old U.S. soldier in the massacre11 of Afghan civilians, said the press release. "Under the UCMJ, the maximum possible punishment for a premeditated murder conviction is a dishonorable discharge from the Armed Forces, reduction to the lowest enlisted12 grade, total forfeiture13 of pay and allowances, and death (with a mandatory14 minimum sentence of imprisonment15 for life with eligibility16 for parole)," it said. The statement did not give details about the killings18 or the ongoing19 investigations20. It remains21 unclear about the motive22 of the killing17 but some U.S. officials said the killer23 soldier was suffering a mental breakdown24.
A week ago, however, a probe team of the Afghan parliament after visiting the villages said that more than a dozen U.S. soldiers had been involved in the Kandahar killing, claiming that two groups of U.S. soldiers totaling 15 to 20 troops carried out the planned attack with air support.
The shooting incident further strained the wary25 ties between Washington and Kabul, which has already been clouded by other recent incidents including the burning of Qurans at a U.S. base in Afghanistan in February and reports of U.S. service members urinating on the corpses26 of Taliban soldiers in January.
点击收听单词发音
1 sergeant | |
n.警官,中士 | |
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2 civilians | |
平民,百姓( civilian的名词复数 ); 老百姓 | |
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3 allege | |
vt.宣称,申述,主张,断言 | |
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4 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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5 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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6 battalion | |
n.营;部队;大队(的人) | |
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7 infantry | |
n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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8 regiment | |
n.团,多数,管理;v.组织,编成团,统制 | |
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9 joint | |
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合 | |
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10 confinement | |
n.幽禁,拘留,监禁;分娩;限制,局限 | |
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11 massacre | |
n.残杀,大屠杀;v.残杀,集体屠杀 | |
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12 enlisted | |
adj.应募入伍的v.(使)入伍, (使)参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 );获得(帮助或支持) | |
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13 forfeiture | |
n.(名誉等)丧失 | |
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14 mandatory | |
adj.命令的;强制的;义务的;n.受托者 | |
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15 imprisonment | |
n.关押,监禁,坐牢 | |
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16 eligibility | |
n.合格,资格 | |
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17 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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18 killings | |
谋杀( killing的名词复数 ); 突然发大财,暴发 | |
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19 ongoing | |
adj.进行中的,前进的 | |
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20 investigations | |
(正式的)调查( investigation的名词复数 ); 侦查; 科学研究; 学术研究 | |
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21 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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22 motive | |
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的 | |
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23 killer | |
n.杀人者,杀人犯,杀手,屠杀者 | |
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24 breakdown | |
n.垮,衰竭;损坏,故障,倒塌 | |
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25 wary | |
adj.谨慎的,机警的,小心的 | |
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26 corpses | |
n.死尸,尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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