VOA标准英语2009年-Somali Government Forces say Insurgents Pu

Forces loyal to Somalia's embattled government say they have pushed out Islamist insurgents² from the strategic capital of Beledweyne in the central Hiran region. But the insurgents claim they made a tactical retreat and have not been defeated. Controlling Beledweyne has long been a vital goal for the Somali government.
　
A Somali wounded in fighting between government forces and Islamist rebels in Mogadishu is brought to Madina hospital, 27 Jul 2009

According to a local lawmaker, Mohamed Dhaqane Elmi Aar, Somali government forces assumed full control of Beledweyne on Sunday after driving Hisbul Islam rebels out of town.

The Somali parliament member says the insurgents are on the run and Somali troops have been dispatched to capture them so they can be put on trial.

But the head of Hisbul Islam in the Hiran region, Mohamed Abdullahi Hussein, says his fighters are still in the city, awaiting new orders.

Hussein insists Hisbul Islam made a tactical retreat Sunday because it was not possible to fight without causing civilian³ casualties. He says new military operations are being planned to take back the town.

For the past several months, Beledweyne, near the Ethiopian border and about 400 kilometers north of the Somali capital Mogadishu, has been divided between government and pro-government forces in the east of the city and Hisbul Islam rebels in the west. Other key towns in Hiran, Middle Shabelle, and southern regions of Somalia are in the hands of an al-Qaida-linked extremist group called al-Shabab, which joined forces with the fundamentalist-nationalist Hisbul Islam group earlier this year.
　
Islamist insurgent¹ fighters near Mogadishu (File)

Beledweyne is considered strategic because it connects the central regions to Mogadishu, where al-Shabab and Hisbul Islam fighters are battling to overthrow⁴ the U.N.-backed government of Islamist President Sharif Sheik Ahmed.

On Saturday, the Somali media reported a convoy⁵ of heavily armed Ethiopian troops crossed into the Hiran region and established a checkpoint at Kala-Beyr junction⁶, located about 20 kilometers south of Beledweyne. Somali journalists said it was not immediately clear if the Ethiopian troops have been deployed⁷ there to support Somali government forces in Beledweyne or whether the troops were on a separate mission.

The Ethiopian government has acknowledged conducting cross-border reconnaissance missions since ending its two-year military occupation of Somalia in January. But Addis Ababa has repeatedly denied charges that it is sending troops to Somalia to intervene in the conflict.

In late May, Somalia's Minister of Internal Security, Omar Hashi Aden, led a group of Ethiopian-trained Somali troops in an unsuccessful bid to dislodge the rebels from Hiran. On June 18, al-Shabab carried out a suicide bombing at a hotel in Beledweyne, which killed the minister and dozens of other people.

Days after the attack, the Somali government said al-Shabab insurgents were being backed by thousands of foreign fighters in Somalia and called for neighboring countries and the international community to intervene.

Only Uganda and Burundi have sent soldiers under the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM.

The African Union is under pressure to send additional battalions⁸ to reinforce its 4,300 peacekeepers in Mogadishu, who are now battling near-daily attacks from insurgents.

On Saturday, an AMISOM spokesman said a Ugandan peacekeeper was killed last week, bringing the AMISOM death toll⁹ to nearly two dozen since early 2007.

1 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

2 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

3 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。

4 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

5 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

6 junction   

n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站

参考例句：

• There's a bridge at the junction of the two rivers.两河的汇合处有座桥。
• You must give way when you come to this junction.你到了这个路口必须让路。

7 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

8 battalions   

n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍

参考例句：

• God is always on the side of the strongest battalions. 上帝总是帮助强者。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Two battalions were disposed for an attack on the air base. 配置两个营的兵力进攻空军基地。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。