VOA标准英语2008年-Islamist Insurgents in Control of Somali Port C

Islamist insurgents¹ have taken control of the port city of Kismayo in southern Somalia. As Derek Kilner reports from VOA's East Africa bureau in Nairobi, the city returned to calm on Saturday after three days of fighting that left more than 60 people dead, according to residents.

Kismayo, Somalia's second largest city, is a strategic port on the country's southern coast near the border with Kenya. It was the last town held by Somalia's Islamic Courts Union when Ethiopian troops backing the country's interim² government retook control of southern and central Somalia in the last days of 2006.

Recently, a clan³-based militia⁴ that supported the transitional government had been in charge of Kismayo. But after three days of fighting that began on Wednesday, al-Shabab, a hardline military faction⁵ of the Islamist movement, took control of the city on Friday, with the warlord formerly⁶ in control fleeing.

A politician from the former clan-based administration, who asked not be named out of fear for his safety, told VOA that over 60 people had died and hundreds were wounded. And the hospital has neither enough medicine nor enough nurses to respond to the casualties.

He said former administrators⁷ had been asked to stay indoors. The city has been calm since sunset on Friday and there have been no reports of people being attacked in their homes. But, he says, people do not know what will happen next.

Aweys Hassan, a local businessman, says the city is calm again, and commercial activity has resumed.

There are an uncountable number of dead and wounded in the hospital, he says. Although the fighting was a disaster, there has been a big change in the city, and people seem to be welcoming it. The Islamists have said they will impose Sharia law, breaking with the previous clan politics.

An al-Shabab leader, Sheikh Muktar Robow, also told reporters that the Islamists would implement⁸ Sharia law in Kismayo, as the Islamic Courts did in much of southern and central Somalia when the region was under their control in late 2006.

The fighting in Kismayo followed the signing of a U.N.-backed peace deal in Djibouti on Monday between the transitional government and a more moderate faction of the Islamist opposition⁹. Al-Shabab, which has been labeled a terrorist organization by the United States, suspected of ties to al-Qaida, has rejected the deal, highlighting the divisions within the opposition and the scant¹⁰ chances of success for the ceasefire.

Islamist-led insurgents have been waging a growing Iraq-style insurgency¹¹ against the government, and the Ethiopian troops backing it, since being ousted¹² from control of Mogadishu. Thousands have died and over one million have been displaced by the fighting, which, along with drought and high inflation, has turned Somalia into what the U.N. has called Africa's worst humanitarian¹³ crisis.

The fighting has been heaviest in Mogadishu. Until this week, Kismayo had been relatively¹⁴ peaceful. Eyes are now on the internationally-supported transitional federal government and their Ethiopian backers, who will have to decide whether to dispatch troops in an attempt to retake the port.

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 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

3 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

4 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

5 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

6 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

7 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

8 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 scant   

adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略

参考例句：

• Don't scant the butter when you make a cake.做糕饼时不要吝惜奶油。
• Many mothers pay scant attention to their own needs when their children are small.孩子们小的时候，许多母亲都忽视自己的需求。

11 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

12 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。

13 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。

14 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。