VOA慢速英语2014 地道战:从加沙一直到朝鲜

 

AS IT IS 2014-08-27 Tunnel Warfare¹: From Gaza to North Korea

The Palestinian militant² group Hamas has received much attention for its use of tunnels in its war with Israel. But the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip is not the only place where tunnels are used in a conflict.

Some South Korean and American security experts say North Korea has dug as many as 20 tunnels under the Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ. The South Korean officials say they received information about the underground passageways from people who have escaped North Korea. The officials say some of these defectors claim to have helped build the tunnels.

South Korean forces and their American allies have found only four tunnels between North and South Korea.  They discovered three tunnels in the 1970s and one in 1990. But the South Korean Defense³ Ministry⁴ says it continues to investigate the possibility that there are more.

Using Tunnels for Surprise Attacks

Both Hamas and North Korea have built tunnels for the same reason: to give their fighters a way to surprise their enemy.

Recently, Israel destroyed 32 tunnels. Fourteen of them entered Israel. Militants⁵ used the tunnels to surprise and kill 11 Israeli soldiers in Israeli territory.

Hamas says the tunnels are an important weapon in its fight against Israel. Gaza shares a 59-kilometer-long border with Israel. Israel says Hamas planned to use the tunnels to kill civilians⁶ in small Israeli communities near the border.

North and South Korea have a border that is four kilometers wide and 240 kilometers long. North Korea built tunnels to permit the communist state to send thousands of its soldiers to places several kilometers south of the DMZ.

David Maxwell is a retired⁷ U.S. Army Special Forces colonel who served in South Korea. He is now an expert at Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies. 

He said if North Koreans were dressed in South Korean uniforms, and also attacked U.S. forces near the DMZ, that would have a disastrous⁸ effect on the trust between the U.S. troops and their South Korean allies.

Mr. Maxwell said such moves have for many years been part of North Korea’s military plans.

Tunnels to Protect Weapons from Airstrikes

The U.S. and Israeli militaries also believe North Korea and Hamas have built many more tunnels for a different reason: to protect their weapons from air bombings.

In 2012, U.S. Army Brigadier General Neil H. Tolley was the commander of all U.S. special operations forces in South Korea. At a conference of special operations experts, he said North Korea had placed much of its military forces in an underground network.

David Maxwell says reports from North Korean defectors and pictures from satellites show North Korea has built thousands of tunnels into mountains and hillsides. He says North Korea has placed artillery⁹, ammunition¹⁰ and medical supplies in the tunnels.

In July, the Israel Defense Force said Hamas had created what the IDF called an “underground city of terror,” with many entry places throughout Gaza. The IDF said Hamas uses the tunnels as places to store weapons, control troops and, in its words, transport “terrorists and weapons."

Did North Korea and Iran Help Hamas with Tunnels?

North Korea has not said whether it helped Hamas build tunnels. But both countries are allied¹¹ with Iran, which has built underground sites to protect its nuclear program from possible air attacks.

Itamar Yaar was the deputy head of Israel’s National Security Council. He retired in 2008. He said the Iranian and North Korean militaries have worked closely with one another in recent years. He says the two countries have sent military officials to Gaza to help Hamas.

Eado Hecht is an Israeli defense expert. He teaches military history at several Israeli universities. He says there are major differences between the North Korean and Hamas tunnels.  The offensive tunnels in Gaza, he said, are narrow.  The North Korean tunnels are big enough for three to five people to walk through.

Mr. Hecht said Hamas usually waits until it will use an attack tunnel before it digs a place to release its troops into Israeli territory. But the four Korean tunnels already had openings on the South Korean side of the border.

Gaza Tunnels Were First Built for Smuggling¹² Goods

Mr. Hecht says Palestinians started building tunnels in Gaza long before they got help from others.

He says Gaza groups began digging smuggling tunnels into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula almost 20 years ago.  He says they learned through trial and error and made huge profits from smuggled¹³ goods.

Mr. Hecht says Gaza smugglers built about 1,800 tunnels. He says Egyptian security forces destroyed more than 1,600 mostly in the past year. Other smuggling tunnels have collapsed¹⁴ or have been damaged by Israeli air strikes. 

1 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

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 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 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。

6 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。

7 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

8 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

9 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。

10 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

11 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

12 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

13 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

14 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。