VOA标准英语2008年-Taliban Claims Responsibility for Pakistan Bomb

Two powerful suicide bomb blasts near the Pakistani capital have killed at least 64 people and wounded more than 70 others Thursday. Pakistani Taliban militants¹ have claimed responsibility for the bombings on a main weapons factory just 30 kilometers northwest of Islamabad. VOA's Ayaz Gul reports from the capital.
　
Pakistani security officials examine the site of suicide bombing at a gate of Pakistan's ordinance² factory in Wah, 21 Aug 2008

Pakistani police say that hundreds of workers at the country's main defense³ industry complex in the garrison⁴ city of Wah were leaving at the end of their shift when two suicide bombers⁵ struck.

Eyewitnesses⁶ say that the attackers blew themselves up at a main gate and at a crowded market inside the factory complex, instantly killing⁷ dozens of people. Doctors say that the death toll⁸ is likely to go up because many of those wounded are in critical condition.

A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban militants, Malvi Omar, has claimed responsibility for the bombings, which are among the deadliest attacks in the country in recent years.

He says the bombings were carried out in retaliation⁹ for the military operation against militants in the Bajaur tribal¹⁰ region on the Afghan border, a known stronghold of Taliban and al-Qaida fighters.

Omar warned of more such attacks, unless the government stops the operation in Bajaur, where officials say nearly 3,000 foreign and local militants are fighting the security forces.

Rehman Malik, who is in charge of Interior Affairs, told Parliament Pakistan would continue the operation to secure government control in the Bajaur region.

"We have two choices, either we hand over Pakistan to Taliban, or we fight back," said Malik.

The military began its operation in Bajaur two weeks ago, and Malik told the parliament that government forces have so far killed more than 560 militants. The clashes also have forced tens-of-thousands of residents to flee the area.

Taliban suicide bombers usually attack Pakistani security forces, but Thursday's attack targeted a key part of the army's weapons supply.

Army spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas tells VOA it is too early to determine if militants are adopting a new strategy.

"We will take a little more time to analyze¹¹ the pattern of the attack and the change in that. But it is too early to say whether it is a deliberate change in tactic¹² or it was an opportunity strike," said Abbas.

The ordinance factory that came under attack is a major supplier of ammunition¹³ and other weapons to the Pakistani military engaged in anti-terror operations in the tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan.

Thursday's attack follows a major suicide bombing in the northwest town of Dera Ismail Khan two days ago that killed at least 32 people. Most of the victims belonged to the minority Shiite Muslim community. Authorities, however, linked that attack to sectarian violence involving militants from the majority Sunni and minority Shiite Muslim sects¹⁴.

 

1 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。

2 ordinance   

n.法令；条令；条例

参考例句：

• The Ordinance of 1785 provided the first land grants for educational purposes.1785年法案为教育目的提供了第一批土地。
• The city passed an ordinance compelling all outdoor lighting to be switched off at 9.00 PM.该市通过一条法令强令晚上九点关闭一切室外照明。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

5 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》

6 eyewitnesses   

目击者( eyewitness的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The examination of all the eyewitnesses took a week. 对所有证人的质询用了一周的时间。
• Several eyewitnesses testified that they saw the officers hit Miller in the face. 几位目击证人证明他们看见那几个警官打了米勒的脸。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

9 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

11 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

12 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

13 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

14 sects   

n.宗派，教派( sect的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had subdued the religious sects, cleaned up Saigon. 他压服了宗教派别，刷新了西贡的面貌。 来自辞典例句