VOA慢速英语 2007 0324

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

A plane carrying eleven people aiding the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia crashed Friday near the capital, Mogadishu.  Officials say it was shot down by a missile shortly after takeoff from the airport. 

Smoke from heavy fighting in Mogadishu

The apparent attack followed two days of intense fighting in Mogadishu between resistance fighters and Somali government forces and their Ethiopian allies.  The fighting eased on Friday after one group of fighters said it had reached a ceasefire with Ethiopian forces.

Earlier this week, the commander of the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia urged several African countries to speed up their promised deployment¹ of troops to help secure Mogadishu.

On Wednesday, resistance fighters pulled the bodies of two pro-government soldiers through the streets of Mogadishu and burned them.  At least twenty-five people have been killed in the fighting. Hundreds of people have been injured. Hundreds of others have fled their homes to escape the violence.

The spokesman for the African Union peacekeeping force says the violence in Mogadishu is becoming more deadly and better organized. However, he also said the violence should not stop other nations from honoring their promise to send troops.

The African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia currently includes fewer than two thousand Ugandan soldiers.  Resistance fighters have attacked the Ugandan troops daily since their arrival in Mogadishu earlier this month.

Burundi has offered to send one thousand seven hundred troops.  However, the nation says it does not have enough equipment for the force.  Nigeria, Malawi and Ghana have also said they would send troops, but they have not yet provided a plan for deployment.

Even if all four countries sent peacekeepers, the force would still be far from reaching its goal of deploying² eight thousand African troops in Somalia.  The troops are needed to protect the country's temporary government.  They are also needed to train Somali security forces and bring back order to the area.

Civil war in Somalia began in nineteen ninety-one.  Since then, militias³ loyal to different groups have controlled parts of the country.  There has been no central government to provide law and order or even basic services to the population. 

Somalia's temporary government was formed in Kenya more than two years ago after an internationally led peace process.  Ethiopia sent troops to Somalia in December to help the temporary government push an opposition⁴ Islamist movement from power.  The Somali government has since struggled to control resistance violence in the capital.

The Somali government recently announced that it will hold a conference next month to bring warring groups together for peace talks.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake.  You can download transcripts⁵ and audio from our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.  I’m Steve Ember.

1 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

2 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

3 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

4 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。

5 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句