2006年VOA标准英语-Eight UN Peacekeepers Killed in Congo Figh

By David Lewis
Goma
23 January 2006

UN peacekeepers guard a street in the center of Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo (File photo -Dec. 13, 2004)   
  

Eight Guatemalan Special Forces soldiers serving with the United Nations were killed and another five wounded, during

fighting in a remote corner of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The peacekeepers were carrying out operations against the

notorious Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army, when they were attacked.

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The Guatemalan Special Forces soldiers were attacked while attempting to pinpoint¹ the location of Lord's Resistance Army

rebels. The group has committed atrocities² in Uganda and its leadership is wanted by the International Criminal Court.

A four-hour pitched battle ensued, with the United Nations sending in attack helicopters to fire rockets at the rebels. A

spokesman for the U.N. mission confirmed they had killed at least 15 of the rebels. He added that most of the group of

between 50 and 60 had been killed or wounded.

The LRA has waged a 20-year war, terrorizing communities on both sides of Uganda's border with Sudan. But several hundred

members of the rebel group crossed into the neighboring Congo late last year, prompting calls for action by Uganda's

government.

Eastern Congo is already home to a number of Congolese, Ugandan and Rwandan rebel groups, whose activities in the past been

used as justification³ for military intervention⁴ by Kigali and Kampala.

The United Nations said Vincent Otti, the LRA's deputy commander, had previously⁵ been in Congo, but it is not yet clear

whether he was there when the fighting took place.

Senegalese soldiers have been flown in by helicopter to reinforce the Guatemalan soldiers and ensure the LRA does not

regroup.

With about 17,000 blue helmets, the Congo is home to the largest U.N. peacekeeping mission. But they are stretched across a

vast country, where there is virtually no infrastructure⁶, the government's influence is limited, and gunmen continue to roam.

1 pinpoint   

vt.准确地确定；用针标出…的精确位置

参考例句：

• It is difficult to pinpoint when water problems of the modern age began.很难准确地指出，现代用水的问题是什么时候出现的。
• I could pinpoint his precise location on a map.我能在地图上指明他的准确位置。

2 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

4 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

5 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

6 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。