VOA标准英语2009年-US Officials Believe Pakistani Taliban Lea

By Sean Maroney
Islamabad
03 October 2009

 
26 Nov 2008 photo taken in Orakzai tribal¹ region of Pakistan shows Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of Pakistani Taliban faction² 
U.S. intelligence agencies say they believe Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud died in a firefight with a rival faction weeks ago.

U.S. authorities are in the process of reviewing their information before they can definitively³ say Hakimullah Mehsud is dead.

So far, there has not been any evidence to confirm Mehsud's death.

But the recent U.S. comments confirm what Pakistani officials said weeks ago, that they believe Mehsud died during Taliban infighting following the death of former group leader Baitullah Mehsud.

Officials believe a U.S. missile strike killed Baitullah Mehsud in early August while he was at his father-in-law's compound in South Waziristan. Earlier this week, the British Broadcasting Corporation's Urdu-language service aired video allegedly showing Mehsud's body.

Hakimullah Mehsud supposedly called news outlets⁴ after rumors⁵ of his death first arose, but Pakistani officials say they have reason to believe that it was Mehsud's cousin pretending to be the Taliban leader.

Also on Friday, Pakistani intelligence officials said they believed a U.S. missile strike in South Waziristan in late August killed Tahir Yuldashev, an Uzbek militant⁶ leader with links to al-Qaida. The Taliban immediately denied the report.

If both Mehsuds and Yuldashev have indeed died, then security analyst⁷ Khalid Aziz says the militants⁸ should be scrambling⁹ for new leaders.

But he cautions that the military would still face a strong fight in the area.

"The militants have the telephones [and] the wireless¹⁰ communication," he said. "They are well-armed. They are well-organized. And so they balance out the advantages to a large extent that the state has."

Meanwhile, the Pakistani army has blocked all entry and exit routes out of South Waziristan, where officials believe Mehsud's fighters are based.

While the military has not publicly set a date for any major operation in the area, U.N. officials say some 80,000 civilians¹¹ have fled the region in anticipation¹² of a new offensive.

 

1 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

2 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。

3 definitively   

adv.决定性地，最后地

参考例句：

• None of the three super-states could be definitively conquered even by the other two in combination. 三个超级国家中的任何一国都不可能被任何两国的联盟所绝对打败。 来自英汉文学
• Therefore, nothing can ever be definitively proved with a photograph. 因此，没有什么可以明确了一张照片。 来自互联网

4 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

8 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。

9 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

11 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。

12 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。