阿萨德称暴力袭击事件猛增叙利亚局势未定

Assad Defiant¹ as Activists² Report Surge in Syrian Government Attacks

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is remaining defiant amid widespread accusations³ his government carried out a deadly chemical attack last week, as monitoring groups say his forces along with Russia have escalated⁴ attacks on civilians⁵ in a clear challenge to the international community.

In his first interview since scores were killed in an April 4 chemical weapons airstrike on Khan Sheikhoun, Assad told the French news agency AFP the incident was a "fabrication" to justify⁶ a U.S. military strike.

"Our impression is that the West, mainly the United States, is hand in glove with the terrorists. They fabricated the whole story in order to have a pretext⁷ for the attack, It wasn't an attack because of what happened in khan Sheikhoun. It's one event, its stage one is the play that we saw on the social networking and on TVs, and the propaganda, and the stage two is the military attack," he said, adding that his country's forces handed over all of its chemical weapons in 2013.

Assad said the "firepower" of his forces has not been diminished by the April 7 U.S. Cruise missile strike on al Shayrat, the airbase from where Washington says Syrian jets took off from to carry out a sarin gas attack.

Rise in attacks

In the week since the attack on Khan Sheikhoun, the Syrian Network for Human Rights says there has been a rise in the use cluster munitions⁸, incendiary weapons and barrel bombs by the regime, resulting in the deaths of at last 98 civilians, including 24 children. It also claims in a report released late Tuesday that toxic⁹-gas grenades were launched by government forces in the Damascus suburb of al Qaboun. There has been on independent confirmation¹⁰ of that report.

“On April 7, 2017, around 16:00, Syrian regime forces used two hand grenades loaded with a poison gas on the eastern battlefront of al Qaboun, which injured two fighters from the armed opposition¹¹ factions,” SNHR says in its report. The group says it cannot confirm what kind of toxic substance may have been used but that the injured fighters “exhibited symptoms such as suffocation¹², heavy breathing and severe coughing.”

The monitoring group, whose reports are used by the United Nations, describes some of the regime’s military operations as deliberately¹³ targeting residential¹⁴ areas and facilities, including mosques¹⁵, rather than just being indiscriminate. It judges that the attacks are partly in retaliation¹⁶ for the April 7 U.S. Cruise missile strike on al Shayrat, the airbase from where Washington says Syrian jets took off from to carry out a Sarin Gas attack on Khan Sheikhoun. That attack left more than 90 civilians dead and hundreds injured, according to activists and first responders.

“The Syrian regime will continue to challenge the international community, testing its limits the same way the regime gradually elevated its use of weapons until we reached chemical weapons,” warns Fadel Abdul Ghany, SNHR chairman.

Four mosques, three schools, four medical facilities and a market were struck by Syrian or Russian warplanes and helicopters from April 4 to April 11, says SNHR. Five attacks saw cluster bombs dropped and half-a-dozen were carried out using incendiary weapons. According to the monitoring group, Syrian government helicopters dropped 125 barrel bombs in Daraa, 23 in Hama, four in Idlib and five apiece in Aleppo and Homs between April 7 to April 11.

White House: further intervention¹⁷ possible

On Monday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters in Washington that the Syrian government's use of barrel bombs could prompt further U.S. military intervention. “If you gas a baby, if you put a barrel bomb into innocent people, I think you will see a response from this president," Spicer said at the White House during a daily press briefing.

He added: “If we see this kind of action again, we hold open the possibility of future action.”

Several hours later, though, Spicer appeared to clarify his remarks about barrel bombs — and not just chemical weapon attacks — triggering further punitive¹⁸ intervention by the U.S., but added to confusion, saying, “Nothing has changed in our posture¹⁹.”

Barrel bombs

Barrel bombs, cheaply-made improvised²⁰ containers packed with explosive and metal fragments, have been dropped frequently by Syrian government forces during the course of the six-year-long conflict. This VOA correspondent witnessed the use of barrel-bombs during several trips inside northern Syria in 2013 and 2014. Last year alone nearly 13,000 barrel bombs were dropped from government helicopters, according to monitors and rights groups.

In an interview with the BBC in 2015, Assad denied his forces ever dropped barrel bombs. “I know about the army. They use bullets, missiles and bombs. I haven't heard of the army using barrels, or maybe, cooking pots," he said.

One of the biggest incendiary-bomb attacks came Sunday night with Russian strikes on the rebel-held towns of Latamneh and Saraqeb near Khan Sheikhoun. Video footage purportedly²¹ of the attacks were posted by activists online and showed enormous fireballs.

Laith Ahmed, a rescue worker with the White Helmets in Saraqeb, told reporters: “The bomb exploded at a height of about 150 meters above the ground, and then the sub-munitions began to fall. At every point one touched the ground, it sent flames in all directions.”

Another watchdog, the Syrian Observatory²² for Human Rights, which is based in London but oversees²³ a network of activists on the ground in Syria to gather information, also reported Thursday a surge in Syrian government and Russian military activity with more than 120 airstrikes in the northern countryside of Hama in the past 24 hours.

The Observatory claimed government helicopters dropped barrel bombs overnight on the towns of Tayyibat al-Imam and Soran, both off which were targeted in heavy artillery²⁴ shelling Thursday by regime forces.

1 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

4 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

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 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

7 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

8 munitions   

n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品

参考例句：

• The army used precision-guided munitions to blow up enemy targets.军队用精确瞄准的枪炮炸掉敌方目标。
• He rose [made a career for himself] by dealing in munitions.他是靠贩卖军火发迹的。

9 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

10 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

11 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

12 suffocation   

n.窒息

参考例句：

• The greatest dangers of pyroclastic avalanches are probably heat and suffocation. 火成碎屑崩落的最大危害可能是炽热和窒息作用。 来自辞典例句
• The room was hot to suffocation. 房间热得闷人。 来自辞典例句

13 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

14 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

15 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

16 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

18 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

19 posture   

n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势

参考例句：

• The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
• He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣，摆出一副打架的架势。

20 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

21 purportedly   

adv.据称

参考例句：

• This is purportedly the oldest tree in the world. 据称这是世界上最古老的一棵树。 来自互联网
• Mayor Oh Se-Hoon launched the campaign last year, purportedly to improve efficiency. 据悉，首尔市市长吴世勋于去年提出了这项旨在提高工作效率的计划。 来自互联网

22 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

23 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

24 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。