2006年VOA标准英语-Somalia's Capital Rocked By Third Day of F

By Cathy Majtenyi
Nairobi
24 March 2006

Fighting continued Friday for the third day running in Somali's capital, Mogadishu, which has left at least 70 people dead and hundreds wounded and displaced.

Mogadishu-based peace activist¹ Abdullahi Shirwa tells VOA the conflict is between militias² aligned³ with two groups: what he calls the United Islamic Courts and the newly formed Restoration of Peace and Anti-Terrorist Alliance.

He described the scene in Mogadishu since Wednesday.

"Actually, the war is going on, or it started at the outskirts⁴ of the city, but the artilleries and mortar⁵ shells are coming to the city," he said.  "They destroyed a lot of houses, a lot of properties and displaced many people."

Shirwa says it is unclear exactly why the two groups are fighting. He says they have been threatening one another since the middle of last month that they would go to war and take control over the city.

Media reports from the region describe the anti-terrorist alliance as a coalition⁶ of warlords who want to stem what they feel is growing Islamic extremism in Somalia.  The Islamic courts are said to want to maintain law and order in the volatile⁷ capital. One media report says the recent clash was over a piece of land.

Shirwa says he believes that the U.S. government is directly supporting the Restoration of Peace and Anti-Terrorist Alliance, and that weaponry is coming into Somalia from nearby countries.

"I think mainly this comes from Ethiopia and Yemen, but that's not [the] only [support]," he added.  "These warlords who established this anti-terrorist alliance, they openly said, we get money from the United States of America. It's well recorded in the local media."

The spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Jennifer Barnes, tells VOA the view that the U.S. is involved in the fighting is one of what she calls "many crazy rumors⁸" coming out of Somalia.

Barnes denies that the U.S. is supporting the Restoration of Peace and Anti-Terrorist Alliance.

"I don't know who this individual group is," said Barnes.  "But I can say that there is an effort at the moment to bring some of the jihadists to book so to speak. We are in favor and for it verbally all efforts to bring justice, peace, order, etc. to Somalia."

The United States has long maintained that Somalia could become a haven⁹ for international terrorists.

There have been more than a dozen attempts to form a central government ever since civil war broke out in 1991. Since then, warlords and their militias have battled with each other and civilians¹⁰ to control different parts of the country.

A transitional parliament was formed in Kenya more than a year ago, and recently met for the first time in Somalia.

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 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

3 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

4 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。

5 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

6 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。

7 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

8 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

10 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。