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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Nigeria's Boko Haram Remains1 Persistent2, Mysterious Threat
DAKAR — The United States has formally designated the Nigerian militant3 sect4, Boko Haram, and a splinter group, Ansaru, as foreign terrorist organizations.
Boko Haram's propaganda videos have been some of the public's only windows into the shadowy militant sect. Sect leader Abubakar Shekau appears in them routinely. He boasts about attacks and threatens enemies ranging from the Nigerian government to Christians5 to the United States.
A man in recent videos who experts say appears to be Shekau taunts6 the Nigerian military, which has declared him dead twice.
In a video distributed on DVD to journalists in Maiduguri in early October, the sect shows off large stocks of weapons it says it seized from Nigerian soldiers. Shekau says "a big war" is coming. He says "This war is not about the Nigerian government; it is a war to uplift Islam and get all non-Muslims to repent7 their ways and embrace Islam. This war is a task that will bring peace, tranquility, equality and fairness in Nigeria."A charismatic imam named Mohammed Yusuf founded Boko Haram in the northeast in 2002.
People nicknamed the sect Boko Haram after Yusuf's preaching. It means "Western education is forbidden" in the local Hausa language.
The sect wants to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria's Muslim-majority north. Its war with the Nigerian state has killed thousands of people since the insurgency8 began in 2009.
Yusuf was murdered that same year during a crackdown against the sect. His deputy, Shekau, resurrected what remained of the sect. It reemerged in 2010 more violent than ever. "He [Shekau] really transformed an organization that was sympathetic to the Taliban and al-Qaida to an organization that operated like the Taliban and al-Qaida. Whereas for Yusuf, it was mostly just preaching and preparing for jihad, but he [Shekau] transformed it from a preaching group about jihad to an actual jihadist group,"said Jacob Zenn, Nigeria analyst9 for the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation.
Militants10 have attacked police and military installations, schools, churches, mosques11 and the U.N. headquarters in the capital, Abuja. There have been dozens of raids, suicide bombings and drive-by shootings.
Security experts say Boko Haram militants have trained with al-Qaida linked groups in Africa, like al-Shabab and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.
Experts say what people call Boko Haram is actually several distinct factions12. Moderates have split off - some wanting dialogue with the government, others forming new militant groups, like Ansaru, which took issue with the sect's killing13 of Muslims. Nigeria launched a massive land and air offensive against Boko Haram in the northeast in May. Despite the military's reports of success, attacks have continued, not all of them claimed by Boko Haram.
1 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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2 persistent | |
adj.坚持不懈的,执意的;持续的 | |
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3 militant | |
adj.激进的,好斗的;n.激进分子,斗士 | |
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4 sect | |
n.派别,宗教,学派,派系 | |
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5 Christians | |
n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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6 taunts | |
嘲弄的言语,嘲笑,奚落( taunt的名词复数 ) | |
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7 repent | |
v.悔悟,悔改,忏悔,后悔 | |
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8 insurgency | |
n.起义;暴动;叛变 | |
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9 analyst | |
n.分析家,化验员;心理分析学家 | |
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10 militants | |
激进分子,好斗分子( militant的名词复数 ) | |
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11 mosques | |
清真寺; 伊斯兰教寺院,清真寺; 清真寺,伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 ) | |
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12 factions | |
组织中的小派别,派系( faction的名词复数 ) | |
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13 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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