VOA标准英语2008年-Suicide Attacker Kills 40 Outside Indian Embass

Afghan officials say a suicide car bomber¹ detonated a blast just outside the Indian embassy in Kabul, killing² 40 people and wounding 140 others. VOA's Barry Newhouse reports from Islamabad the attack is one of the deadliest to hit the Afghan capital in months.
　
Afghan security force and medical personnel assist survivors³ as they arrive at scene of suicide bombing outside Indian Embassy in Kabul, 07 Jul 2008

Witnesses said the bomber attempted to ram⁴ two diplomatic vehicles just outside the embassy gates before detonating a blast that damaged the main embassy building and tore through nearby shops.

Among the victims were people waiting for visas, embassy security guards, as well as shoppers at a nearby market.

There was no immediate⁵ claim of responsibility for the attack on the Indian mission, which has developed close ties to the Afghan government and is funding several large Afghan development projects. In New Delhi, the Indian Ministry⁶ of External Affairs said the attack would not deter⁷ it from fulfilling commitments to the people of Afghanistan.

A spokesman for Afghanistan's interior ministry, Abdul Hakim Ashar, blamed the attack on what he called the enemies of stability.

He says the enemies of peace and stability in Afghanistan always try to keep the people of Afghanistan in an insecure environment.

A White House spokesman later condemned⁹ the attack, saying the United States stands with the people of Afghanistan and India.

NATO officials in Kabul told VOA the bomber appeared to have gotten through roadblocks that restrict access to some vehicles in the embassy neighborhood. Such large-scale suicide bomb attacks have been relatively¹⁰ rare in Kabul, but ISAF spokesman Captain Michael Finney said security remains¹¹ as much a concern in the Afghan capital as the rest of the country.

"The security services are endeavoring to make Kabul and Afghanistan in general a safer place. But the insurgents¹² are determined¹³ and they do not seem to care about all of the civilian¹⁴ casualties," said Finney.

Monday's blast in Kabul occurred just as U.N. officials were preparing a news conference to discuss the grim tally¹⁵ of attacks targeting food aid for the most needy¹⁶ Afghans.

"We just heard an explosion outside - in the vicinity of this office. This kind of act also put a great number of civilian lives at risk. It is cowardly and we condemn⁸ it in the strongest way," said Kai Eide, the special representative of the U.N. secretary general to Afghanistan.

Eide then reported that between January and June, insurgents in Afghanistan looted or burned 466 tons of food aid - an amount he said could feed 46,000 people for a month.

Among Afghans, there is also concern over civilian casualties caused by coalition¹⁷ forces. In the past several days, Afghan officials have called for investigations¹⁹ into recent U.S.-led airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan that allegedly have killed scores of civilians²⁰.

On Sunday, local officials said an American airstrike killed at least 22 civilians who were walking to a wedding ceremony. U.S. commanders said the strike killed militants²¹ - not civilians.

President Hamid Karzai also has ordered an investigation¹⁸ into conflicting reports about an airstrike Friday that locals said killed 22 civilians. U.S. officials said that strike killed only fighters who had fired on coalition forces. Afghan officials later said that many militants were among the dead.

　

 

1 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

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 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

4 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

5 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。

6 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。

7 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

8 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

9 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。

10 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

11 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。

12 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

13 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

14 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。

15 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

16 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

17 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。

18 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

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 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。

21 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。