VOA标准英语2010年-Taliban Militants Attack Bagram Airbas

U.S soldiers wait after collecting the body of an insurgent 1 from a vineyard near the Bagram airbase after insurgents 2 launched a brazen 3 pre-dawn assault against the giant U.S.-run Bagram Air Field, in Bagram, Afghanistan. At least 10 insurgents have been killed and seven U.S. service members have been wounded so far in the attack on Bagram, which started at about 3 a.m. with rockets, small arms and grenades fired into the base, said Maj. Virginia McCabe, a spokeswoman for U.S. forces at Bagram, 19 May 2010.

A group of heavily armed Taliban militants 5 attacked a major U.S-run airbase in Afghanistan, sparking gun battles that killed nearly a dozen insurgents and an American contractor 6. At least nine U.S soldiers were also wounded in the fighting. The militant 4 strike comes a day after a suicide car bombing struck a NATO convoy 7 in the capital Kabul, killing 8 six foreign troops along with 12 Afghan civilians 10.

The pre-dawn Taliban assault targeted the Bagram airbase, which is located 60 kilometers north of Kabul and is run primarily by the U.S military.

Speaking to VOA by telephone, a U.S spokeswoman at Bagram, Major Virginia McCabe, gave details of the fighting, "Several insurgents were killed in the attack this morning on Bagram Air Base that included small arms fire, mortars 11, rockets and grenades. Our servicemen responded immediately," she said.

Taliban militants quickly claimed responsibility, saying 20 fighters mostly suicide bombers 12 took part in the assault that began overnight. 

NATO officials described four of the insurgents killed as intended suicide bombers.

The attack on one of NATO's biggest bases in Afghanistan comes a day after a suicide car bombing targeted a military convoy of the international alliance on a busy road in Kabul. The attack killed 18 people, including five American troops and a Canadian solider. The rest of the victims were Afghan civilians.

Speaking at a news conference in Kabul, NATO's senior civilian 9 representative in Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill, warned of more insurgent attacks in the coming days. But he says the violence will not deter 13 international efforts to bring security to the country.

"We will have difficult days like yesterday (referring to the suicide attack on the NATO convoy in Kabul). It is inevitable 14. This is the time of year when we see usually an effort by the insurgents to knock us of course and to try and attack the coalition 15 and indeed the government of Afghanistan. But the overall campaign is on track," Sedwill said. "I believe that by the end of this year we will be able to demonstrate that we have the initiative and the momentum 16 is with us, the government of Afghanistan and the government's international partners."

NATO forces are preparing to launch security operations against suspected militant bases in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar. In response, the insurgents have promised to step up attacks on diplomats 17, members of the Afghan government, lawmakers, NATO forces and foreign contractors 18.