VOA标准英语2010年-At Least 64 Killed in Uganda Bombings

Damaged chairs and tables amongst the debris¹ strewn outside the restaurant "Ethiopian village" in Kampala, Uganda, 12 July 2010 after an explosion at the restaurant late Sunday

 

Officials in Uganda say Somalia's al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab rebel group is suspected of carrying out Sunday's twin bombings in the capital Kampala. The blasts killed more than 60 people and left dozens of others wounded. The group has previously² threatened to attack Uganda and Burundi for sending troops to Somalia as part of an African Union peacekeeping mission.

Police in Kampala say the blasts tore through crowds watching the final World Cup soccer match in two of the busiest parts of the city.

The first explosion ripped through an Ethiopian restaurant in Kabalagala, a Kampala suburb popular with ex-patriots and foreign visitors. The second blast occurred at the Kyadondo Rugby Club in the center of town, where a huge crowd had gathered to watch the game between Spain and the Netherlands on giant TV screens.

A man attends to an injured women after a bomb went off in a restaurant in Kampala's Kabalagala district in Uganda, 11 July 2010

Nearly 50 people are believed to have been killed at the Rugby Club. At least 15 died in the restaurant explosion.  A U.S. embassy spokeswoman in Kampala, Joann Lockard, says one American is among the dead and several others may have been wounded.

"We have had one American citizen fatality³. I am hoping to be able to have additional information about American citizen injuries," Lockard said.

Related video clip of Uganda attack:

 

The Ugandan government says it is looking into the possibility that two suicide bombers⁴ wearing vests may have carried out the attacks. Security officials had earlier speculated that the bombs had been planted at the two sites and set off remotely. 

The Ugandan army declined to comment. But the inspector⁵ general of the Ugandan police, Kale Kayihura, linked the bombings to recent threats by Somalia's al-Shabab militants⁶ against countries contributing troops to the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia.   

More than 6,000 troops from Uganda and Burundi are in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, protecting key installations and the U.N.-backed Transitional Federal Government from attacks by al-Shabab and other Islamist insurgents⁷. The leaders of East Africa's regional bloc⁸, IGAD, have also pledged to send 2,000 additional troops to bolster⁹ the peacekeeping force.

Last week, al-Shabab's top leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, accused African Union troops of continuing to kill civilians¹⁰ in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. He said his group would seek revenge.

Al-Shabab, considered a terrorist group by the United States and other western countries, has already carried out several suicide attacks against peacekeepers in Somalia.

Kampala resident Naboth Muhereza says that Ugandans are in deep shock and concerned about their safety.

"Everyone is worried, wondering why and who penetrated¹¹, who did this," said Muhereza. "There are speculations¹² that it is al-Shabab that attacked Uganda because Uganda has got some soldiers in Somalia. So, they are revenging by killing¹³ Ugandans."

The President of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government Sharif Sheik Ahmed sent condolences to the victims' families in Uganda and said the region and the international community will not tolerate the spread of insecurity by terrorists.
 

1 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

2 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

3 fatality   

n.不幸，灾祸，天命

参考例句：

• She struggle against fatality in vain.她徒然奋斗反抗宿命。
• He began to have a growing sense of fatality.他开始有一种越来越强烈的宿命感。

4 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》

5 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

6 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。

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 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

9 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

10 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。

11 penetrated   

adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
• They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。

12 speculations   

n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断

参考例句：

• Your speculations were all quite close to the truth. 你的揣测都很接近于事实。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• This possibility gives rise to interesting speculations. 这种可能性引起了有趣的推测。 来自《用法词典》

13 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。