2007年VOA标准英语-Afghan TV Airs German Hostage Video

By Benjamin Sand
Islamabad
23 August 2007

A kidnapped German engineer held hostage in Afghanistan for over a month has been shown pleading for help on Afghan TV. Efforts to free him and 19 South Koreans held by Taleban insurgents¹ have stretched out for weeks. VOA correspondent Benjamin Sand reports from Islamabad.

TV clip shows German engineer Rudolf Blechschmidt talking in Kabul, 23 August 2007

The video aired Thursday morning on Afghanistan's private Tolo television station.

The German, identified as Rudolf Blechschmidt, is shown squatting² on a black sheet, coughing and grabbing his chest as he appeals for help in English.

The video includes a translation in Dari by the local newscaster.

He says he is living in the high mountains and is in very bad condition.

With some prodding³ from his captors off screen he says the Taleban is trying to talk to the government and with the German Embassy but time is running out.

Blechschmidt was kidnapped in central Afghanistan on July 18, along with five Afghan colleagues and a second German engineer who later apparently⁴ was shot to death.

One of the other captives, who was not identified, was also featured in the video, begging Afghan President Hamid Karzai to help free them.

He says we are all Afghans, including the Taleban. For the sake of our children and for ourselves, he says, please try to release us.

Efforts are also underway to free 19 South Korean hostages in the central Afghan province Ghazni.

On July 19 Taleban insurgents seized 23 South Korean volunteer workers. Two were killed, two others released, the rest are still being held.

Security experts say the rash of kidnappings reflects a new strategy, copied at least in part from Iraq.

Analysts⁵ say the insurgents use kidnappings to terrorize communities and highlight the government's inability to protect them. 

At the same time, the approach allows the militants⁶ to avoid a direct confrontation⁷ with better-armed international and Afghan troops.

The militants also, with varying degrees of success, use kidnappings to pressure foreign governments with a military presence in Afghanistan.

German, South Korean and Italian civilians⁸ have all been kidnapped in the past few months.

Taleban attacks in general are on the rise, and fighting continues throughout much of the country.

In Southern Afghanistan, a provincial⁹ police chief narrowly escaped a roadside bomb Thursday.

At least three civilians were killed and more than a dozen others wounded. A day earlier, a Taleban attack in the same region killed two Canadian soldiers and injured a journalist.

More than 6,500 people have been killed in the past 16 months, Afghanistan's bloodiest¹⁰ stretch since 2001 when a U.S.-led coalition¹¹ ousted¹² the hard-line Islamist Taleban government.

1 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

2 squatting   

v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。

参考例句：

• They ended up squatting in the empty houses on Oxford Road. 他们落得在牛津路偷住空房的境地。
• They've been squatting in an apartment for the past two years. 他们过去两年来一直擅自占用一套公寓。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 prodding   

v.刺，戳( prod的现在分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳

参考例句：

• He needed no prodding. 他不用督促。
• The boy is prodding the animal with a needle. 那男孩正用一根针刺那动物。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

5 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

6 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。

7 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

8 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。

9 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

10 bloodiest   

adj.血污的( bloody的最高级 )；流血的；屠杀的；残忍的

参考例句：

• The Russians were going to suffer their bloodiest defeat of all before Berlin. 俄国人在柏林城下要遭到他们的最惨重的失败。 来自辞典例句
• It was perhaps the bloodiest hour in the history of warfare. 这也许是战争史上血腥味最浓的1个小时。 来自互联网

11 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。

12 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。