2007年VOA标准英语-Pakistan Military Launches Operation to End Mil

By Benjamin Sand
Islamabad
10 July 2007

militants2 at Lal masjid, or Red Mosque3, 10 July 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070711/0850000.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Pakistani paramilitary troops take position during heavy gunbattle with militants at Lal masjid, or Red Mosque, 10 July 2007

Pakistani security forces have launched a military assault on militants holding Islamabad's Red Mosque for the past week. The operation began just before dawn Tuesday after negotiations⁴ broke down. From Islamabad, VOA correspondent Benjamin Sand reports at least 40 militants have been killed and officials say they expect the death toll⁵ will rise significantly.

Huge explosions rocked Islamabad's Red Mosque early Tuesday morning as security forces blasted their way into the heavily armed compound.

By mid-morning officials said more than two-thirds of the sprawling⁶ complex had been cleared. Heavy combat continued as around 50 to 60 militants remained barricaded⁷ inside a basement.

Military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad says the gunmen were fully⁸ prepared and mounted a strong resistance.

"Militants were using all kinds of weapons," he said. "They had machine guns, they had rocket launchers, they were using hand grenades."

He says at least 40 militants and three security personnel have been killed.

Fifty other people have surrendered.

Arshaid said around 20 children managed to escape early Tuesday but said hundreds more may still be trapped inside the mosque.

Ambulances ferried scores of wounded to nearby hospitals, while the terrified parents of students trapped inside waited for the siege to end.

The mosque's fiery⁹, pro-Taleban cleric, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, has said he and his supporters would rather die than surrender. He has said he hoped his death would spark a nationwide Islamic revolution in Pakistan.

The assault came just hours after government negotiators said they failed to end the seven-day standoff.

Lal Masjid, or the Red Mosque, has been a well-known source of Islamic militancy¹⁰ and its top clerics recently vowed¹¹ to impose strict Islamic law on the capital.

Ghazi's supporters led what they called an anti-vice campaign in the city, which included kidnapping police officers and a number of alleged¹² prostitutes from China.

There are mounting concerns the capital's unrest could spark a much wider militant¹ backlash in other parts of the country.

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 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。

3 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

6 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

7 barricaded   

设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守

参考例句：

• The police barricaded the entrance. 警方在入口处设置了路障。
• The doors had been barricaded. 门都被堵住了。

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

10 militancy   

n.warlike behavior or tendency

参考例句：

• Full of militancy and revolutionary ardour, the people of all nationalities in the country are working hard for the realization of the four modernizations. 全国各族人民意气风发， 斗志昂扬，为实现四个现代化而奋战。
• The seniority system is another factor that leads to union militancy. 排资论辈制度也是导致工会好斗争的另一因素。

11 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

12 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为