VOA常速英语2007-Military Bases Attacked in Southern Iraq

By Deborah Block
Irbil, Iraq
15 October 2007

Suspected Shi'ite militiamen fired mortars² at two military bases and shot at a Polish helicopter south of Baghdad, prompting clashes in fighting that left as many as five Iraqi civilians³, including two children, dead and about 20 wounded. VOA's Deborah Block reports from Irbil in northern Iraq.

The fighting in the Shi'ite city of Diwaniyah began early in the day when militants⁴ fired mortar¹ rounds at the main U.S. and Polish base and at a patrol base manned mainly by Iraqis and Polish troops.

Reports quote officials saying U.S.-led forces fired back with six or seven artillery⁵ rounds and both sides traded small arms fire. They say a curfew was imposed on four districts in the city known to be dominated by the Mahdi Army.

This witness heard gunfire between U.S. troops and insurgents⁶ - and also says Americans shelled some residential⁷ areas, setting a nearby orchard⁸ on fire.

In Kurdish-dominated northern Iraq, people were paying close attention to developments across the border in Turkey. The Turkish Cabinet said it would ask parliament for permission to launch an attack inside Iraq on Kurdish rebels blamed for attacks in Turkey. Washington fears such a move could sow chaos⁹ in one of the most peaceful areas of the war-torn country.

Kurdish officials in northern Iraq say diplomacy¹⁰ would be better than violence in solving the problem. This resident of the northern Iraq city of Irbil agrees.

He says Iraqi Kurds resent a possible Turkish action, and he calls for Washington to put an end to this crisis.

The United States has urged restraint by Turkey, a key NATO ally.

Turkey has repeatedly asked the United States to pressure its Kurdish allies in Iraq to crackdown on the Kurdistan Workers Party, known as the PKK, which launches attacks inside Turkey from havens¹¹ in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. Turkey and the United States call the group a terrorist organization.

1 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。

2 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

3 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。

4 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。

5 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

6 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

7 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

8 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。

9 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

10 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

11 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网