美国国家公共电台 NPR More Civilians Than ISIS Fighters Are Believed Killed In Mosul Battle

 

RAY SUAREZ, HOST:

There's been an important unanswered question about the battle for the Iraqi city of Mosul even five months after it ended. How many civilians¹ were killed as U.S. and Iraqi forces launched their intensive air and ground assault against ISIS? It was a nine-month fight, and some 100,000 civilians were believed to be in Mosul, trapped there along with ISIS fighters when the battle plan cut off an escape route.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

NPR's Jane Arraf went to Mosul to try to find out how many died. It turns out it's likely that more civilians died in the battle than ISIS fighters. Before we listen to Jane's report, we want to warn you it includes disturbing accounts. And it runs about seven minutes.

JANE ARRAF, BYLINE²: It's a windy Friday at a cemetery³ on the west side of Mosul. You can hear the call to prayer from a mosque⁴ nearby. Kids play among mounds⁵ of freshly dug red earth. The headstones are mostly just chunks⁶ of concrete. Some of them don't even say who's buried there, just the neighborhood where they were killed. But the grave diggers remember everything.

HAMID MAHMOUD HUSSEIN: (Through interpreter) We dug these graves with a bulldozer. This is an entire family - one, two, three, four, five, six.

ARRAF: That's Hamid Mahmoud Hussein. In this cemetery alone, he and his colleagues buried more than 1,000 civilians killed in the battle against ISIS. They say most of them died when the houses they were hiding in collapsed⁷ on top of them in artillery⁸, mortar⁹ and airstrikes.

HUSSEIN: (Through interpreter) There were coalition¹⁰ planes - F-16s, B-52s and Apache helicopters - and then ISIS was launching mortars¹¹. And the people were in the middle.

ARRAF: There are a lot of children buried here. I'm standing¹² in front of one of them with a concrete marker with red paint on it. It's the name of a 15-year-old girl and her 6-year-old brother. The little girl had her arms around her brother to protect him when the house collapsed around them. They were buried in the same grave. The people who buried them here say they couldn't pry¹³ them apart.

The other graves tell the story of what happened as Iraqi forces and U.S.-led airstrikes tightened¹⁴ the ring around ISIS and the civilians trapped with them. There's the grave of an 80-year-old man said to have starved to death when civilians ran out of food. Some were killed by ISIS. In one day alone, they shot more than a hundred people, including children, as they were trying to escape. But the grave diggers say most of the survivors¹⁵ talked of houses collapsing¹⁶ in airstrikes and mortar attacks, like the one in March the U.S. acknowledged led to the deaths of at least 105 civilians huddled¹⁷ in a building with two ISIS snipers on the roof.

As we talk, a military helicopter hovers¹⁸ overhead. Everyone here can tell by the markings it's coalition.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: This is Amreki.

ARRAF: Beyond the cemetery, in the old section, there are entire city blocks without a building still intact. Many were the homes of people advised by military forces to stay put or kept there by ISIS as human shields. So how many civilians were killed? The U.S. says it has confirmed 801 civilians dead in coalition airstrikes in both Iraq and Syria during the entire war against ISIS. But the military acknowledges it doesn't do complete investigations¹⁹ like interviewing witnesses. There is one place where the numbers are solid. That's the office that issues a death certificate for each body. And there, the director of the Mosul morgue gave NPR the count.

RAED AL-ABADI: (Through interpreter) During the liberation, more than 5,000. More than 5,000. Those are just the ones we received so far. We have women. We have children. We have men. We have entire families under the rubble²⁰. We still haven't pulled them out.

ARRAF: That's morgue director Dr. Raed al-Abadi. The figure is just civilians. The morgue doesn't deal with military casualties or ISIS fighters. And that figure doesn't include the 400 bodies laid out in his morgue, waiting to be identified, or hundreds of bodies believed still under the rubble.

AL-ABADI: (Through interpreter) What killed them was destruction by the aircraft. Coalition aircraft destroyed the people. They destroyed buildings, houses, streets, everything. Damned ISIS was shooting one or two bullets, and the aircraft would turn around and destroy the whole neighborhood.

ARRAF: His count of 5,000 civilians killed is much more than the number of ISIS fighters the U.S. military said were in the city and presumed dead. And it raises one of the major questions of the battle for Mosul - should U.S. and Iraqi forces have launched such an intense bombardment without leaving an escape route for civilians? At the time, U.S. and Iraqi military commanders said they were doing their best to protect civilians. But they compared the intense urban fighting to World War II's Stalingrad.

ISIS used suicide bombers²¹, drones, snipers on rooftops, used civilians as human shields. They moved in and out of tunnels knocked through walls. As ISIS killed more Iraqi troops, airstrikes intensified²². The original battle plan included a route for civilians to flee Mosul, but that would have let ISIS fighters escape, too, so they ended up surrounding them. And that left civilians trapped among them.

At the main hospital in Mosul, Dr. Hassan Zgyr saw the effect of that strategy. He was the head of surgery during the battle. He says older boys and men were more able to save themselves.

HASSAN ZGYR: What kind of bodies I receive? Mostly children and women, and all dead.

ARRAF: Before 2003, Zgyr was an Iraqi army general. He'd seen pretty much everything, but never this many wounded and dead civilians. He actually starts to tear up when he talks about it.

ZGYR: It is like a film passing in front of my eyes. Sorry.

ARRAF: He says many more people were killed by bombs than bullets. And that death toll²³ of 5,000 we got from the morgue is still rising because a lot of the dead are still unregistered. At a small office on the grounds of the Mosul hospital, Iraqis stream in to try to get death certificates. They walk past fading photographs of missing children. A lot of them had to bury their relatives in their yards or communal²⁴ graves when they were killed. And now, months later, they need to have them exhumed²⁵ to have them registered as dead and give them a proper burial.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Through interpreter) Can you help me? I want to know how to get my son's body out.

ARRAF: That's a woman who says her son was 20 and killed in a mortar attack when they were trying to escape. She buried him in the neighborhood where he died and where crews are still removing the rubble.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Through interpreter) We need to get him out quickly because I'm afraid the bulldozer will come and we won't be able to find his body.

ARRAF: And there are more bodies still being found. We go out in the streets of the old city, walking through ancient alleyways past houses in ruins five months after the fighting ended.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: (Foreign language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: (Foreign language spoken).

ARRAF: One of the Iraqi fighters showing us around pulls up the remains²⁶ of a suspected ISIS fighter thrown on top of one of the piles of concrete. No one worries about retrieving²⁷ those. But underneath²⁸ these destroyed buildings there are still hundreds of civilians who were killed in the fighting. Residents here say it will take years for the real cost of the battle for Mosul to be counted. Jane Arraf, NPR News, Mosul.

(SOUNDBITE OF CORINNE BAILEY RAE SONG, "CHAINS")

1 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。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

4 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。

5 mounds   

土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆

参考例句：

• We had mounds of tasteless rice. 我们有成堆成堆的淡而无味的米饭。
• Ah! and there's the cemetery' - cemetery, he must have meant. 'You see the mounds? 啊，这就是同墓，”——我想他要说的一定是公墓，“看到那些土墩了吗？

6 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

7 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

8 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

9 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

10 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。

11 mortars   

n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵

参考例句：

• They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Where the hell are his mortars? 他有迫击炮吗？ 来自教父部分

12 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

13 pry   

vi.窥(刺)探，打听；vt.撬动(开，起)

参考例句：

• He's always ready to pry into other people's business.他总爱探听别人的事。
• We use an iron bar to pry open the box.我们用铁棍撬开箱子。

14 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

15 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

16 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

17 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

18 hovers   

鸟( hover的第三人称单数 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovers in the sky. 一只老鹰在天空盘旋。
• A hen hovers her chicks. 一只母鸡在孵小鸡。

19 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

20 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

21 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 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。

24 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

25 exhumed   

v.挖出，发掘出( exhume的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Marie Curie's remains were exhumed and interred in the Pantheon. 玛丽·居里的遗体被移出葬在先贤祠中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His remains have been exhumed from a cemetery in Queens, New York City. 他的遗体被从纽约市皇后区的墓地里挖了出来。 来自辞典例句

26 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

27 retrieving   

n.检索（过程），取还v.取回( retrieve的现在分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Ignoring all, he searches the ground carefully for any cigarette-end worth retrieving. 没管打锣的说了什么，他留神的在地上找，看有没有值得拾起来的烟头儿。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• Retrieving the nodules from these great depths is no easy task. 从这样的海底深渊中取回结核可不是容易的事情。 来自辞典例句

28 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。