Afghanistan to Intensify Fight Against Islamic State after Attacks

 

Afghanistan has promised to intensify¹ the fight against the Islamic State, or IS, after the group claimed responsibility for a deadly weekend attack.

President Ashraf Ghani declared Monday that his government would seek to destroy all safe havens³ used by IS.

His comments followed a bombing of a wedding party Saturday in Kabul that killed at least 63 people, including children. Nearly 200 others were injured. IS claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Ghani was giving a nationwide address to mark the 100th anniversary of the country’s independence. He said the government would attempt to destroy the militant⁴ group’s “nests.”

“We will take revenge for every civilian⁵ drop of blood,” Ghani declared. “Our struggle will continue against (IS), we will take revenge and will root them out.” He urged the international community to join those efforts.

More attacks happened on Monday. A series of bombings hit the eastern city of Jalalabad, several news agencies reported. An Afghan official said at least 66 people were wounded in those attacks. There was no immediate⁶ claim of responsibility. Both IS and Taliban militants⁷ operate in the area.

In his speech, Ghani said the Taliban must share the blame for the wedding bombing. This is because the Taliban's own deadly attacks over the years on schools, mosques⁸, and other public places had "created the platform for other terrorists" to operate, he said.

The Afghan president did not speak about ongoing⁹ negotiations¹⁰ between the United States and Taliban representatives. His government has been critical of the process because Afghan officials have not been included in the talks. The Taliban has refused to hold direct negotiations with the U.S.-supported Afghan government.

The goal is to negotiate a peace deal to end nearly 18 years of fighting. A pullout of U.S. troops has been a long-standing Taliban demand. The U.S. military has about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan. About 8,000 troops from 38 other countries have also deployed¹¹ there.

A major U.S. demand has been a guarantee that Afghanistan will not be used as a base for militant groups to launch terror attacks on American targets.

The U.S. envoy¹² leading talks with the Taliban, Zalmay Khalilzad, said on Sunday that the peace process should be intensified¹³ to help Afghanistan defeat the Islamic State.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the weekend wedding bombing “an attack against humanity.” U.S. President Donald Trump¹⁴ also condemned¹⁵ the attack. He told reporters Sunday that he does not want Afghanistan to become a “laboratory for terror.”

Trump said he had received information on the latest U.S.-Taliban talks and described the negotiations as “good.”

The United Nations said earlier this year that more than 32,000 civilians¹⁶ had been killed in Afghanistan over the past 10 years. It also said 927 children in Afghanistan were killed last year.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

haven² – n. a place where you are protected from danger, trouble, etc.?

revenge – n. the act of doing something to hurt someone because that person did something that hurt you

platform – n. something that permits someone to tell a large number of people about an idea

1 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

2 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

3 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

4 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。

5 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。

6 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

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 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

9 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

10 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

11 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

12 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

13 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》

14 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

15 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

16 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。