VOA标准英语2010年-Yemen: Three Al-Qaida Militants Captur

Yemeni TV also gave the names of six other al-Qaida fighters killed Friday in an airstrike by government warplanes on two vehicles in which they were riding.

Edward Yeranian | Cairo 16 January 2010

Yemen's defense¹ ministry² says that three al-Qaida militants³ have been captured along the border with Saudi Arabia.  Yemeni security officials also say "al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula's" top military commander, Qassem al-Raimi, was killed in a government air raid on  Friday, along with five other militants. 

The Yemeni defense ministry is reporting on its website Saturday that three al-Qaida militants were captured by government security forces in the north of the country, near Saada province, scene of an ongoing⁴ separatist rebellion.

A military official indicated on the 26sep.net website that the three were caught with weapons, explosives and propaganda pamphlets. They were also reportedly wearing military uniforms.

Yemeni TV also gave the names of six other al-Qaida fighters killed Friday in an airstrike by government warplanes on two vehicles in which they were riding. Qassem al-Raimi, who is being called the "military chief of al Qaida" in Yemen was among the dead. Al-Raimi escaped from a Yemeni prison in 2006.

Gregory Johnsen, a Yemen expert at Princeton University, says that the Yemeni government is attempting to show the U.S. that it is capable of combating al Qaida on its own and without Western interference.

"I think that Yemen is trying to prove that it can carry out these sort of attacks and it can keep al-Qaida on the run in the country and that it doesn't need the US to actively⁵ intervene in the country," he said.

A group of Yemeni religious leaders said Friday that they would declare a jihad or holy war in the event that foreign troops were to intervene inside Yemen.

Johnsen points out that two of the militants reportedly captured, Saturday, were from the Saada region, given their surnames, and that it seems "a bit strange to find al-Qaida militants from that area." Johnsen adds that it's often difficult to verify what is going on in the far-flung regions of Yemen where the airstrikes and military raids are taking place.

"We saw yesterday with the two cars that were supposedly attacked by the Yemeni airforce, that six individuals were killed, but they've changed who these individuals are a couple of times and they've said 'oh, he escaped, no he was killed,' and in the region where it happened, between Jawf and Saada, it's really hard to get independent verification up there and most of the journalists are packed together in Sanaa, so they're all dependent on the same sources," he said.

Also on Saturday, rebels with the Shi'ite Zaidi sect⁶ said they shot down a Saudi military helicopter in Yemen.  The rebels, who are also known as Houthis, say the helicopter was approaching the border area of Jebel Dukhan.  Saudi Arabian officials have not responded to the shootdown claim.

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 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。

3 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。

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

6 sect   

n.派别，宗教，学派，派系

参考例句：

• When he was sixteen he joined a religious sect.他16岁的时候加入了一个宗教教派。
• Each religious sect in the town had its own church.该城每一个宗教教派都有自己的教堂。