VOA标准英语2009-Sri Lanka Army Amazed by Size of Captured Rebel

Top brass¹ of Sri Lanka's Army say they are astonished by the amount of weapons and ammunition² they have seized, as soldiers retake territory from the Tamil Tiger rebels.
　
A Sri Lankan soldier uncovers weapons which according to the army were captured from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Kilinochchi, 24 Apr 2009

On display at a pair of military bases in Kilinochchi - the rebel's de facto capital they recently abandoned - are impressive displays of weapons: artillery³ guns, mortars⁴, 4,000 bombs, rows of assault rifles, more than 6,000 hand grenades, nearly 3,000 improvised⁵ explosive devices, armored vehicles and one tank.

The weaponry is a portion of what the Army says is an impressive armament, worth tens of millions of dollars, seized from fleeing cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

According to the Army, their troops have recovered 100,000 small arms, one-million rounds of ammunition and nearly 30,000 land mines.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, known as the LTTE, also organized a fledgling navy and air force.

It is all evidence of the sophisticated international weapons smuggling⁶ network that allowed the Tamil rebels to wage war for more than a quarter century against the Sinhalese-dominated military.

The commander of the 58th Division, Army Brigadier Shivendra Silva, says it is obvious the weapons came from many countries, but accurately⁷ identifying the sources is difficult.

"By the time it reaches LTTE, they remove all those things [identifying marks]. How can we tell that that particular country had sold it? It would have gone to another country, gone from somewhere else," said Silva. "You know how smuggling is taking place. So it's very unfair for us to point and tell one country's name."

Military officials say some of the LTTE's arsenal⁸ was manufactured or modified locally.

International arms analysts⁹ say the rebel arsenal originated in number of countries, including Afghanistan, Cambodia, Greece, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, North Korea and Ukraine.

In its latest annual report on terrorism, the U.S. State Department, says the LTTE is funded, in part, through donations from Tamils living in North America, Europe and Australia. It says Tamil charitable organizations are used as fronts and funds collected are diverted to fight the Sri Lankan military and carry out acts of terrorism.

A military offensive has now reduced the LTTE to a sliver¹⁰ of land, less than five kilometers long, on the northeast coast (40 kilometers east of Kilinochchi).

A number of countries and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon have called for a ceasefire by both sides to allow trapped civilians¹¹ to escape. Estimates of the number of civilians in jeopardy¹² range to 100,000.

In an interview with VOA News, Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona contends a ceasefire would primarily benefit a depleted¹³ enemy on the verge¹⁴ of defeat.

"Demanding a ceasefire, as some of the international community have, they are only prolonging this conflict for another unlimited¹⁵ period of time and also ensuring that the LTTE can recover, regroup and keep on fighting," said Kohona.

Rebel statements accuse the military of using heavy weapons, despite a pledge not to fire shells or bomb the area. The LTTE also claims that the civilians with them have begun dying of starvation because the government will not allow adequate donated food into the no-fire zone.

Sri Lanka accuses the rebels of holding the civilians as human shields. It terms its final military offensive here in the Northern Province the "world's largest hostage rescue mission."

1 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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

5 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

6 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

7 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

8 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

9 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。

10 sliver   

n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开

参考例句：

• There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
• Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上，莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。

11 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。

12 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

13 depleted   

adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Food supplies were severely depleted. 食物供应已严重不足。
• Both teams were severely depleted by injuries. 两个队都因队员受伤而实力大减。

14 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

15 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。