伊斯兰国组织欲在非洲寻找石油和兵源

AS IT IS 2015-12-19 Islamic State Looks for Oil, Recruits in Africa 伊斯兰国组织欲在非洲寻找石油和兵源

The United States says it is concerned about the Islamic State group attracting recruits and acquiring resources in North Africa.

The forces fighting against IS in Syria and Iraq are retaking ground and oil fields.

While this is seen as a success, one U.S. government official says there is concern about recruits coming from Libya and parts of Egypt.

Anti-IS fighters in the northern part of Iraq are taking back territory and oil revenue. So IS looks for new sources of income.

Iraq’s largest refinery¹ was taken back from IS in October.

President Barack Obama says IS has lost 40 percent of the area it once controlled in Iraq.

In Syria, IS controls about 80 percent of the oil fields. But one U.S. official says production is slow and the group is not earning as much money from oil as it once did.

Oil refineries² and transport trucks are targets, and oil prices are down by about half since 2014.

One U.S. official says IS is “looking at the oil assets in Libya and elsewhere. But we’ll be prepared.”

Libya’s oil industry has suffered since the country’s civil war started in 2011.

That makes Libya a potential recruiting ground for IS.

One defense³ official says “Libya is the next big thing for ISIL.”

Words in This Story

acquire – v. to get something

asset – n. a valuable person or thing

recruit – n. a person who has recently joined a company, an organization, the armed forces, etc.

refinery – n. a place where the unwanted substances in something (such as oil or sugar) are removed : a place where something is refined

income – n. money that is earned from work, investments, business, etc.

potential – adj. capable of becoming real

1 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

2 refineries   

精炼厂( refinery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The efforts on closedown and suspension of small sugar refineries, small saccharin refineries and small paper mills are also being carried out in steps. 关停小糖厂、小糖精厂、小造纸厂的工作也已逐步展开。
• Hence the sitting of refineries is at a distance from population centres. 所以，炼油厂的厂址总在远离人口集中的地方。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。