VOA标准英语2009-Pakistan Military says Significant Progress

Meredith Buel | Washington 23 November 2009

 
Pakistani Army soldier behind his machinegun

After five weeks of fierce fighting, the Pakistan military says it has made significant progress in an ongoing¹ air and ground offensive against the Taliban and other insurgents² in South Waziristan, along the border with Afghanistan.  Analysts³ say top militant⁴ leaders appear to have melted away, but at the same time have unleashed⁵ a wave of suicide bombers⁶ to attack government and civilian⁷ targets in Pakistan. 

Pakistani military commanders say they have captured most major Taliban bases and towns in their offensive, called Operation Path to Deliverance in South Waziristan.

Army soldiers have advanced more quickly than expected, killing⁸ hundreds of militants⁹ and capturing the high ground that encircles towns in this remote and sparsely¹⁰ populated region.

Pakistani Army Brigadier Farrukh Jamal:

"They had occupied all these surrounding high peaks," said Brigadier Jamal. "From these peaks they gave us a very tough resistance.  There was very fierce fighting here.  But thank God we managed to capture all these peaks, and we killed them here."

Jamal says his men have cut the Taliban's supply lines and are now going after those hiding in forests and caves in this mountainous area.

The soldiers displayed a large number of captured weapons, ammunition¹¹ and vests used by suicide bombers.

They also found militant propaganda, training materials, bomb making instructions, Pakistani passports, as well as DVD's and tapes with messages from al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin¹² Laden¹³.

Analysts say the military learned from previous campaigns against the militants in a region where it has lost hundreds of soldiers in previous fighting.

The Pakistani air force spent weeks bombing the area before an estimated 30,000 ground troops entered South Waziristan from three directions.

Military officials estimate there were up to 10,000 Taliban militants operating in South Waziristan, so only a small number have been killed.

Reza Jan follows the fight against the Taliban for the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute.

"What was clear to them was that they were not being able to defeat the military on the terms that the battle was laid out," said Reza Jan. "The resistance really seemed to have melted away and they more or less either fled into the mountains or fled into neighboring agencies."

The Pakistani Taliban is led by the Mehsud tribe, which has launched a relentless¹⁴ series of suicide bombings against civilian and military targets in heavily populated areas of Pakistan.

The bombings have caused support for the Taliban in Pakistan to plummet¹⁵, according to Fred Kagan who directs the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute.

"We have gone, at least for the moment, from a situation in which there was relatively¹⁶ greater support among the Pakistani public for groups like the Taliban and Islamists in general to a situation where those groups have enjoyed much less support and falling support, which is in many respects even more important," said Fred Kagan.

U.S. officials have praised the Pakistani operation in South Waziristan, but want the country to expand its fight to go after militants in North Waziristan who carry out attacks against American and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

They also want Pakistan to move against the Afghan Taliban leadership in the southern Pakistani city of Quetta.

The Haqqani Network in North Waziristan and the Afghan Taliban are reported to have had close ties with Pakistani intelligence officials and Kagan says he expects they will not be attacked.

"I think it is extremely unlikely that the Pakistani military is going to take on the clearing of North Waziristan in any short period of time or perhaps ever," he said.

South Waziristan has long been considered a safe haven¹⁷ for al-Qaida leaders who fled into Pakistan's tribal¹⁸ areas following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.  Analysts say it is a possible hiding place for Osama bin Laden. 

1 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

2 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

3 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。

4 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

5 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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》

7 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

8 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。

9 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。

10 sparsely   

adv.稀疏地；稀少地；不足地；贫乏地

参考例句：

• Relative to the size, the city is sparsely populated. 与其面积相比，这个城市的人口是稀少的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The ground was sparsely covered with grass. 地面上稀疏地覆盖草丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 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。

12 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

13 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

14 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

15 plummet   

vi.(价格、水平等)骤然下跌；n.铅坠；重压物

参考例句：

• Mengniu and Yili have seen their shares plummet since the incident broke.自事件发生以来，蒙牛和伊利的股票大幅下跌。
• Even if rice prices were to plummet,other brakes on poverty alleviation remain.就算大米价格下跌，其它阻止导致贫困的因素仍然存在。

16 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

17 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

18 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。