伊拉克和叙利亚反击IS势力

AS IT IS 2016-03-25 Anti-IS Forces Launch Attacks in Iraq and Syria 伊拉克和叙利亚反击IS势力

Iraqi forces have launched an attack in Mosul and Syrian troops entered Palmyra in an offensive against the Islamic State militant¹ group.

On Thursday, Iraqi forces attacked Islamic State militants² about 75 kilometers from the city of Mosul.

About 4,000 U.S.-trained Iraqi forces moved towards 12 villages southeast of the city Thursday morning.

The troops moved in from two directions. Sunni Arab forces joined in the battle.

The troops took over four villages but did not control the entire area.

Najat Ali is a Kurdish Peshmerga general observing the fight. He said IS attacked with suicide bombers³, mortars⁴ and guns. That stopped the Iraqi advance. IS burned tires, creating a dark smoke screen.

The Peshmerga fighters said they are not involved in the battle for Mosul right now because it is a traditionally Sunni Arab area. But they are giving important information to the Iraqi soldiers.

The Sunni fighters are very important to maintaining control of the traditionally Sunni areas near Mosul.

Ali said airplanes from the coalition⁵ working to defeat IS, including U.S. warplanes, flew overhead and struck the villages.

Ali said this is the first part of the operation, and is the most important if the group wants to re-take Mosul.

“They will not liberate⁶ Mosul eas(il)y,” he said. “Maybe it is harder than before.”

The Peshmerga fighters said they are preparing for a possible IS counter-attack. They are standing⁷ ready at the border between their territory and Sunni territory.

Action in Syria

At the same time in Syria, forces supported by Russian military airplanes moved against IS in the ancient city of Palmyra.

Syrian state media report that troops are already inside the city. But another group observing the conflict between Syria and IS said the battles are still at the edges of the city. The fighting continued into the night.

IS took over Palmyra in 2015. Palmyra is a historic city with 2,000-year-old Roman ruins that IS fighters have destroyed.

The destruction of the ancient temples and tombs in Palmyra has been called a war crime by the United Nations.

The Syrian forces of President Bashar Al-Assad are trying to take back Palmyra and open a road to the eastern part of the country.

A U.S.-led coalition also said it carried out air strikes near Palmyra on Wednesday. It was the first strike by the coalition since March 4.

A soldier interviewed by the Syrian-run television channel said the army and its allies would keep moving beyond Palmyra to fight against IS in northern Syria.

Words in This Story

advance –n. forward movement

coalition –n. a group of people, groups, or countries who have joined together for a common purpose

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 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 mortars   

n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵

参考例句：

• They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Where the hell are his mortars? 他有迫击炮吗？ 来自教父部分

5 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。

6 liberate   

v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由

参考例句：

• They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
• This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。