Coalition Strikes Libyan Military Amid Ground Stalemate

Aircraft of a Western-led coalition¹ struck military positions in Libya for a sixth day Thursday, as pro² and anti-government forces fought on the ground in the east and west of the country.
French fighter jets shot down a Libyan government warplane over the city of Misrata on Thursday. U.S. officials reportedly believe the Libyan plane was a military training craft. Meanwhile, African Union announced it is hosting talks aimed at trying to halt the fighting.
Anti-aircraft batteries fired into the air over Tripoli overnight as coalition warplanes bombed military targets inside the capital and elsewhere. ABC News reported that coalition forces shot down a Libyan warplane that was defying the U.N.-imposed no-fly zone.
Meanwhile, Libyan state TV showed images of several charred³ bodies it said were casualties of the coalition bombing. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe insisted that coalition airstrikes are targeting only military sites.
Haitham al Traboulsi, a Libyan doctor who said he is in Tripoli, told al-Arabiya TV that "no civilians⁵ were hit" in recent coalition airstrikes and that the strikes were "extremely precise." He claimed that the bodies shown on Libyan TV were of people killed in previous fighting in Zawiya and Tripoli"
Libya's Deputy Foreign Minister Khalid Kaim, however, complained to reporters that the western coalition is hitting civilian⁴ targets and he called for an end to airstrikes:
"The airstrikes as what happened today did not differentiate⁶ between civilians and armored personnel," Kaim said. "To start up the national dialogue and get life back to normal, the airstrikes should stop immediately."
Witnesses in the government-besieged, rebel stronghold of Misrata in western Libya complained that pro-Gadhafi forces were shelling at random⁷. A doctor in the town said snipers are firing on civilians, tanks are firing on buildings, there is no running water, food is scarce and conditions at the hospital are deplorable.
Deputy Foreign Minister Kaim, however, insisted that government forces were observing a cease-fire in Misrata, despite numerous reports to the contrary:
"The situation is just confined to a number of pockets of violence and snipers scattered⁸ in different areas of Misrata," he added. "There is no attack from the Libyan forces, from air or from ground, and there are no military operations of the ground in Misrata."
Closer to the main rebel-held city of Benghazi in eastern Libya, fighting between lightly-armed rebel forces and Gadhafi loyalists continued on the outskirts⁹ of Ajdabiya for a third day, with little sign of change.
Elsewhere, people in the western Libyan town of Zintan, between Tripoli and the Tunisian border, told al-Arabiya TV that pro-Gadhafi forces continue to shell their town.

1 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。

2 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

3 charred   

v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦

参考例句：

• the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
• The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 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。

6 differentiate   

vi.(between)区分；vt.区别；使不同

参考例句：

• You can differentiate between the houses by the shape of their chimneys.你可以凭借烟囱形状的不同来区分这两幢房子。
• He never learned to differentiate between good and evil.他从未学会分辨善恶。

7 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

8 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

9 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。