VOA标准英语2009年-Bomb Rips Through Market in Northwest Paki

By Ayaz Gul
Islamabad
18 September 2009

 
Pakistani local residents gather at the wreckage¹ of a market and vehicles after a suicide car bomb blast near the garrison² city of Kohat, 18 Sep 2009
Authorities in northwestern Pakistan say that a suicide car bomber³ has killed at least 25 people and wounded dozens others.

Police say the attack occurred near the northwestern town of Kohat where a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-filled car in a busy marketplace. The powerful explosion instantly caused most of the deaths and rescue workers shifted dozens of wounded to local hospitals where doctors say at least ten are in critical condition.

Eyewitnesses⁴ say that several cars were destroyed while the intense blast brought down more than a dozen shops at the crowded market.

Local police official Ali Hassan Khan was present on the scene shortly after the blast.

The police officer says the suicide bomber struck his explosive-filled car with other vehicles parked on the roadside. He says buildings on both sides of the road have collapsed⁵ and rescue workers were trying to recover bodies from under the rubble⁶.

There are no claims of responsibility for attack that police suspect could be part of the ongoing⁷ sectarian violence between majority Sunni and minority Shi'ite Muslim extremist groups. The attack took place a day after a bomb explosion in the area wounded six people.

The place where Friday's suicide bombing occurred is mostly inhabited by minority Shi'ite Muslims. The northwestern Pakistani district has witnessed a series of sectarian and other militant⁸ attacks in recent years.

Taliban militants⁹, who belong to majority Sunni Muslim community, are also active in the area and are blamed for fueling sectarian tensions as part of their strategy to fight the Pakistani security forces.

Despite an ongoing military offensive against Taliban fighters in some of the northwestern districts and adjoining tribal¹⁰ areas, which border Afghanistan, militants continue to mount attacks. However, Pakistani military officials say the violence has subsided¹¹ in recent weeks because they claim to have broken the back of Taliban fighters in Pakistan.

 
Major General Athar Abbas (File photo)
Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas tells VOA Taliban militants are on the run both in Swat and the tribal areas and the military success against these extremists have brought down the number of terrorist attacks in Pakistan in recent weeks.

"It has a huge impact on all the militant groups around who were disturbing the peace of the area who were challenging the writ¹² [authority] of the government and conducting suicide bombings or terrorism against the people of Pakistan," he said.

General Abbas says that key Taliban commanders are among the nearly 2,000 militants the Swat offensive his killed while security forces have arrested nearly 3,000 suspected terrorists.

Military officials also believe the death of chief commander of the Taliban in Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud, in a suspected U.S. drone attack last month on his hideout in the Waziristan border region has dealt a major blow to militants and led to infighting among Taliban groups over his successor.

1 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

2 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。

3 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

4 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。

5 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

6 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

7 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。

8 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。

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 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 subsided   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后，部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚， 暴风雨已经过去，四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 writ   

n.命令状，书面命令

参考例句：

• This is a copy of a writ I received this morning.这是今早我收到的书面命令副本。
• You shouldn't treat the newspapers as if they were Holy Writ. 你不应该把报上说的话奉若神明。