VOA标准英语2009年-Militants Storm Government Buildings in Kabul,

Eight Taliban militants² have attacked three government buildings in Kabul, in a brazen³ daytime assault that killed at least 26 people and wounded dozens of others. One group of attackers barricaded⁴ themselves in the Afghan Justice ministry⁵, holding off police for a few hours before they were shot dead.
　
Security forces escort a woman from the Justice Ministry in Kabul, 11 Feb 2009

The attacks began shortly after 10:00 in the morning, when militants launched near-simultaneous assaults against the Justice Ministry and Education Ministry in the center of Kabul as well as the Afghanistan Prisons Directorate in the east of the city.

At the Justice Ministry, witnesses said five attackers armed with automatic weapons and grenades stormed the front gate, overwhelmed security guards and entered the main lobby, firing on people inside.

Ministry employee Muhammed Azgar was inside at the time of the attack.

He says they were shooting us from four sides - from the hallway, the back of the lobby and the stairs. He says everyone inside panicked and was running around, trying to find a way out.

The deputy of the Interior Ministry, General Muneer Mangal, said after the attackers stormed the lobby, they began making their way through offices on the second floor, shooting people they came across. He says they then barricaded themselves inside, forcing a standoff with security forces that lasted three hours.

He says with the help of the national police and national security directorate, security forces killed the attackers and prevented them from detonating vests packed with explosives.

At the same time militants were storming the Justice Ministry, one kilometer away officials said guards outside the education ministry identified one suicide bomber⁶ and killed him before he could detonate his explosives.

Minutes later, in eastern Kabul, two militants attacked a government office that oversees⁷ Afghan prisons. Police said one attacker detonated his suicide vest inside the compound and the other was shot dead by security guards.

Shortly after the attacks began, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujaheed called VOA and other news outlets⁸, saying suicide bombers⁹ were targeting the justice ministry buildings, trying to kill the justice minister. Officials later said the justice minister was inside the building at the time of the attack, but he was unharmed.

During a three-hour-long standoff with the militants in the center of Kabul, Afghan national army and police barricaded several city blocks as ambulances ferried the injured to hospitals.

Shops, businesses and government offices near the justice ministry shut down for the day, but for the rest of the Afghan capital, residents carried on as usual and there was no indication that terrorists had effectively shut down the heavily-fortified city center.

The series of attacks demonstrated a high degree of coordination¹⁰ and interior ministry officials said there are indications that some of the militants were foreigners. Similar gun and bomb attacks took place in Kabul last year, including separate assaults on the upscale Serena hotel and the Afghan culture ministry.

During a news conference in Kabul, the head of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security, Amrullah Saleh, said officials recently received information warning of what he called "spectacular" attacks involving multiple suicide bombers, but he said that at the time it was too generic¹¹ for security forces to act on.

He said intelligence officials are already pursing leads that some of the militants had links to groups inside Pakistan.

"As they were entering the ministry of justice and before starting their indiscriminate killings¹², they sent three messages to Pakistan, calling for the blessing¹³ of their mastermind," he said. "And we are working on that angle of it as well."
　
Richard Holbrooke shakes hands with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, left, Islamabad 10 Feb. 2009

The attacks occurred as U.S. envoy¹⁴ Richard Holbrooke arrived at the governor's house in Peshawar. Holbrooke was on the third day of a visit to Pakistan to help President Barack Obama chart a new strategy to beat the insurgencies raging in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Holbrooke is expected in Kabul later this week.

Afghan officials have blamed Pakistani militant¹ groups as well as elements of Pakistan's intelligence agency for some of the deadliest attacks in Kabul, including the bombing of the Indian embassy and the attack on the Serena hotel. Pakistani officials flatly deny the allegations.

1 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。

2 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。

3 brazen   

adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的

参考例句：

• The brazen woman laughed loudly at the judge who sentenced her.那无耻的女子冲着给她判刑的法官高声大笑。
• Some people prefer to brazen a thing out rather than admit defeat.有的人不愿承认失败，而是宁肯厚着脸皮干下去。

4 barricaded   

设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守

参考例句：

• The police barricaded the entrance. 警方在入口处设置了路障。
• The doors had been barricaded. 门都被堵住了。

5 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。

6 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。

7 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

8 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》

9 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

11 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

12 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

13 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

14 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。