VOA标准英语2010年-Suicide Blast Kills at Least 88 in Pak

Photo: AP
People transport a victim of suicide bombing at a local hospital in Bannu, Pakistan, 01 Jan 2010

A suicide bomber¹ set off an explosive-laden² vehicle on a field during a volleyball match in northwestern Pakistan, killing³ at least 88 people. Authorities say scores of others were wounding and children are among the victims.  Friday's attack is the third major militant⁴ activity in the country within a week leaving more than 120 people dead.  

The deadly suicide blast took place in a remote northwestern village near the Pakistani town of Lakki Marwat.  The bomber targeted a crowd of people watching a volleyball match in a congested neighborhood. 

Speaking to VOA by telephone, Provincial⁵ police chief Malik Naveed described the incident.

"A vehicle came, which was laden with about anything between 100-300 kilograms of explosives. It came and went right into the field where the driver exploded the vehicle, killed himself and a number of houses on the sides of the playground also caved in," he said.

The police chief says the village where the attack occurred was once considered a hub of Taliban insurgents⁷.  However, he says, locals with the help of authorities set up a militia⁸ force and killed or expelled the militants⁹ from their area.  The police officer says Friday's bombing is a possible reaction to the anti-militancy efforts.

"These insurgents, they were not very happy about it and they were cut off because the people had risen against them.  So this was one way of taking revenge from these people," he said.

The northwestern region where the attack took place is close to the Waziristan tribal¹⁰ region where local and Afghan Taliban as well as al-Qaida militants are said to have set up their training bases. These militants are also believed be involved in cross-border raids against U.S-led foreign forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

Pakistani security forces have been attacking insurgent⁶ bases in the South Waziristan tribal area since October.  Militant attacks and suicide bombigs across the country have killed more than 1,000 people - mostly civilians¹¹ -  in the past year.

Friday's suicide blast happened on a day when Pakistan's commercial capital Karachi nearly shut down in a strike called by religious and political parties to protest Monday's deadly bombing in the southwestern port city. That attack targeted a religious procession of the minority Shiite Muslims and killed more than 40 people. The violence provoked angry protests across the city with demonstrators setting fires to nearly 2,000 stores that took three days to completely put out. 

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

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 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

6 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

7 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

8 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

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 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。