VOA常速英语:丧心病狂：摩苏尔百姓被IS激进分子当做人肉盾牌

We are standing about 200 meters outside the Old City, and you can hear fighting behind me.Soldiers say the reason why we are not seeing civilians fleeing is not because they do not want to flee but because Islamic State militants are targeting them with sniper fire.
我们现在就站在摩苏尔旧城外大约200米的地方。你甚至都可以听到我身后战斗的声音。士兵们说，我们之所以看不到四处逃散的百姓，不是他们不想跑，而是因为伊斯兰国激进分子在不断地用狙击手火力攻击他们。

Besides IS snipers, Mosul residents are victims of airstrikes, car bombs, executions and mortars from both sides. Civilian death tolls are soaring.
除了伊斯兰国狙击手，空袭、汽车炸弹、处决和双方迫击炮也在荼毒着摩苏尔人民。老百姓死亡人数不断飙升。

As many as 8,000 people per day have fled Mosul in recent weeks,but officials say that number is decreasing because more civilians are trapped.
最近几周，每天都有多达8000人逃离摩苏尔，不过官员表示，因为越来越多的平民深陷困境，这个数字如今在不断减少。

Outside this camp families about to escape say they saw other people trying to flee arrested or murdered by IS.
在这座营地外，有些家庭正打算逃跑，他们说之前曾见过有人在逃亡的过程中被伊斯兰国逮捕甚至是杀害。

“May God banish them and cure us from this evil.”
“愿上帝将他们驱逐，拯救我们脱离苦海。”

The past week has seen some of the most brutal fighting since operations to re-take Iraq from Islamic State militants began in October,and soldiers have been fighting around the edges of Mosul’s Old City for weeks.
十月份，从伊斯兰国激进分子手中夺回伊拉克的行动开始实施，而就在过去一周，摩苏尔历经了几场最残酷的战斗，士兵们已经在摩苏尔旧城边上进行了数周的战斗

Trapping civilians, officials say, is IS’s strategy to slow down the battle with human shields.
官员们表示，围困住老百姓是伊斯兰国的一种战略，他们想要用人肉盾牌来放缓战斗脚步。

“Because so many IS fighters remaining are foreign, the battles are fierce.But our soldiers are accomplishing our mission.”
“因为剩下的好多伊斯兰国士兵都是外国人，而这场战争又太过激烈。但是我们的士兵都在尽力完成使命。”

In areas re-captured by Iraqi forces in the past few days,IS mortars and other weapons left behind indicate when the militants are beaten, they are retreating fast.
过去几天中，人们在伊拉克部队收复区发现了伊斯兰国留下的迫击炮和其他武器，这表明， 激进分子被打败的时候正在迅速撤离。

Last week, some Iraqi officials said operations would pause as suspected U.S.-led coalition airstrikes on civilian homes were investigated.
上周，一些伊拉克官员表示，收复行动可能将暂时被叫停，因为美国领导的一个联盟涉嫌对民房进行空袭，相关部门正在调查此事。

But soldiers here say they are not slowing down.And families say the death and destruction in Mosul is so extreme that, more than anything else, they just want it to end.
不过摩苏尔的战士们却说，他们并没有放慢脚步。许多家庭也表示，在摩苏尔经历了那么严重的死亡和破坏之后，他们现在只希望眼前这一切都能够结束。

Reporting from Mosul, Iraq, I’m Heather Murdock, VOA news.
VOA新闻，海瑟.默多克于伊拉克摩苏尔为您播报