VOA标准英语2008年-Afghanistan Says Foreign Agency Had Role in Ind

Pakistan's government is denying it played a role in Monday's suicide bomb attack on India's embassy in Afghanistan. But Afghan officials say it is "pretty obvious" who was behind the attack. VOA's Barry Newhouse reports from Islamabad.
　
Afghan policeman stands guard in front of the damaged entrance to the Indian Embassy in Kabul, a day after a bomb attack on the building, 08 Jul 2008

A day after a massive suicide car bomb attack killed more than 40 people and wounded scores more outside India's diplomatic mission in Kabul, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said investigators¹ believe that a foreign intelligence agency was behind it.

Humayun Hamidzada said that although the investigation² is still continuing, officials believe they already have evidence that the attack had significant foreign support.

"The sophistication of this attack and the kind of material that was used in it and the specific targeting - everything has the hallmark of a particular intelligence agency that has conducted similar terrorist acts inside Afghanistan in the past," he said.

In June, Afghan officials accused Pakistan's spy agency of being directly involved in April's assassination³ attempt against President Karzai. But at a news conference in Kabul, Hamidzada refused to directly blame Pakistan in the bombing targeting its historical rival India.

"We believe firmly that there is a particular intelligence agency behind it. I am not going to name it anymore. I think it is pretty obvious," he said.

Pakistani officials have strongly denied the government was involved in the Karzai assassination attempt or the Indian embassy bombing. The head of Pakistan's Interior Ministry⁴, Rehman Malik, told a group of reporters in Islamabad that no part of the government played any role in the bombing.

He said Pakistan does not involve itself in such acts because it is not in its interest. He said that for Pakistanis, a safe Afghanistan is a guarantee for a safe Pakistan.

Pakistan's top intelligence agency, called the ISI, had fostered close ties with Afghanistan's Taliban government until 2001. Pakistan officially turned against its ally before the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan. Since then Pakistan has been praised as a partner in the war against terrorism.

But in recent years, continuing attacks by Taliban militants⁵ in Afghanistan and Pakistan have strained relations between the two countries and raised questions about whether Pakistan's intelligence agency truly cut all ties with its former Taliban allies.

 

1 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 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。