VOA标准英语2009-Red Cross: Dozens of Afghans Killed in US Airstr

Red Cross officials are backing local reports that U.S.-led airstrikes in western Afghanistan earlier this week killed dozens of civilians². The U.S. military is sending investigators³ to the scene and President Hamid Karzai has pledged to take up the issue in meetings with President Obama.
　
Afghan villagers mark new burial site of victims who were allegedly killed during the coalition⁴ airstrikes in Bala Baluk district of Farah province, Afghanistan, 05 May 2009

Local Afghan officials say the incident occurred during a battle Monday and Tuesday in Farah province, when Afghan troops aided by U.S. soldiers were battling Taliban insurgents⁵.

Local officials said bombing raids on the suspected Taliban positions killed as many as 100 civilians and residents are still digging through rubble⁶ looking for more bodies. A Red Cross team sent to the region backed up the claims of dozens of civilian¹ deaths, including women and children.

A joint⁷ Afghan and U.S. military team has gone to investigate the site and interview residents, but officials said continued fighting in the region has delayed the mission.

U.S. Deputy Ambassador Francis Ricciardone vowed⁸ to help the families of any civilians killed in the strikes, but said it is first important to try to establish what happened.

"The first reports are almost always wrong, one way or another," Ricciardone said. "We also know that the insurgents, the Taliban, exploit them and sometimes usually fabricate in very sophisticated ways. So I think we have to wait and see what the facts are."

In similar previous incidents, U.S. officials initially⁹ disputed Afghan claims of large numbers of civilian casualties. Later, the United Nations and Red Cross backed up the higher tallies¹⁰.

Those incidents helped make the issue one of the most contentious¹¹ in Afghanistan, and led top officials including President Karzai to urge international forces to exhibit more restraint. Mr. Karzai has said airstrikes and house raids are seriously undermining support for international troops in the country.

The United Nations estimated that in 2008, some 828 civilians were killed by coalition and Afghan security forces - a third higher than the year before. Most of those killed are believed to have died from aerial bombing. The U.N.'s highest estimated tally¹² from a single incident has been 90 civilians killed in Azizabad village in western Afghanistan last year.

Military officials say the public outrage¹³ over the deaths has led the Taliban to adopt tactics that try to encourage pro-government forces to strike civilian targets. ISAF spokesman Brigadier General Richard Blanchette says all foreign troops entering Afghanistan are trained to try to avoid such incidents, but they still occur.

"We fully¹⁴ realize that we want to bring down the casualties to zero," Blanchette said. "But with the behavior of the insurgents who are continuing to hide, to use human shields, it is a difficult task to separate the population from the cowardly behavior of the insurgents."

President Karzai's office released a statement saying he plans to raise the issue of civilian casualties during his first in-person meeting with President Barack Obama on Wednesday.

1 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。

2 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。

3 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 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

6 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

9 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

10 tallies   

n.账( tally的名词复数 )；符合；（计数的）签；标签v.计算，清点( tally的第三人称单数 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• Cash on hand tallies with the figure in the accounts. 现款跟账上的数目没有出入。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He tallies his own marks. 他把自己的得分记了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

12 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。

13 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

14 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。