VOA常速英语2007年-Islamic Insurgents Shell Mogadishu Market, At L

By Nick Wadhams
Nairobi
13 December 2007

Islamic insurgents¹ in Somalia have shelled the main market in the capital Mogadishu, killing² at least 13. As Nick Wadhams reports from Nairobi, the transitional government's security chief says his forces have become powerless to stop the rebels.

Sheikh Qasim Ibrahim Nur made the comments to The Associated Press, telling the news agency that the transitional federal government is now "powerless to resist" Islamic fighters.

He told the news service that 80 percent of the country is unsafe and that insurgents are planning a massive attack. It was not clear if the market shelling was part of that expected offensive.

The comments were official recognition of what has been apparent for months. Nearly a year after government troops backed by the Ethiopian army pushed Islamic militants³ from Mogadishu, the fighters have regained⁴ much of their power, and there are growing concerns that Islamic groups are spreading well beyond Mogadishu. Reports from Somalia in recent days suggest that Islamic militants have been targeting towns across the country.

Said Tahliil is a Somali journalist.  He spoke⁵ to VOA by phone from Mogadishu, where he witnessed the market attack.

Tahliil tells VOA that the Baraka market was attacked with mortars⁶.  He said 13 people are confirmed dead and another 40 people were wounded in the attack.  He says there is heavy fighting in Mogadishu, and people are fleeing because they are afraid the new wave of fighting will reach their homes.

Somalia has been without an effective government since 1991, when a coup⁷ ousted⁸ dictator Mohammed Siad Barre. Troops from Somalia and Ethiopia have been battling Islamic insurgents for months, and the United Nations now says the country is suffering from the world's worst humanitarian⁹ crisis.

Early this week, the United Nations asked for $403 million to fund relief efforts in Somalia.  The United Nations says about 1.5 million people are in desperate need of aid.

1 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

2 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。

3 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。

4 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 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

7 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

8 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。