喀布爾使館區遭卡車炸彈襲擊 80人遇難

A truck bomb ripped through the diplomatic area of Kabul yesterday, killing at least 80 and wounding hundreds of others in the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital for Months.

一輛裝滿炸藥的卡車昨日嚴重毀壞喀布爾使館區，造成至少80人死亡，數百人受傷，這是阿富汗首都幾個月來遭遇的最血腥襲擊。

The blast, which took place during rush hour near the German embassy, was the latest in a wave of attacks to hit Kabul that have exposed the government’s fragile grip on security and put pressure on US president Donald Trump to commit more troops to the conflict.

爆炸事件發生在交通高峯時段，地點在德國大使館附近，這是針對喀布爾的一波襲擊的最新一起。這些襲擊暴露出政府在安全方面掌控脆弱，並給美國總統唐納德?特朗普(Donald Trump)帶來壓力，要求他向這場衝突投入更多兵力。

Afghanistan’s security has deteriorated as the US has drawn down the number of its soldiers deployed in the country from a peak of more than 100,000 six years ago to about 8,600.

隨着美國將其在阿富汗部署的兵力從六年前的最高峯10多萬減少至大約8600，該國的安全狀況已經惡化。

Both the Taliban and Isis have struck the capital in recent months, including an attack outside the Supreme Court in February that killed at least 20. The Taliban denied it was behind yesterday’s attack. No other group claimed responsibility.

塔利班和“伊拉克與黎凡特伊斯蘭國”(ISIS)這兩個組織最近幾個月都向首都發動襲擊，包括2月份在最高法院外發動的導致至少20人遇難的襲擊。塔利班否認其是昨日襲擊的幕後黑手。也沒有其他組織聲稱負責。

Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan president, condemned the “cowardly attack in the holy month of Ramadan targeting innocent civilians in their daily life”.

阿富汗總統阿什拉夫?加尼(Ashraf Ghani)譴責了“在齋月期間針對從事日常生活的無辜平民進行的懦夫般的襲擊”。

Most of those killed were Afghans, but one of the victims was a security guard at the German embassy. Other embassy staff were wounded, said Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s foreign minister. Several other embassies, including the French, Turkish and Chinese missions, were also damaged.

大多數遇難者是阿富汗人，但其中一個受害者是德國大使館的保安人員。德國外交部長西格馬爾?加布里爾(Sigmar Gabriel)表示，還有一些使館工作人員受傷。法國、土耳其和中國等其他幾個大使館也遭到損壞。

“Such attacks do not change our resolve in continuing to support the Afghan government in the stabilisation of the country,” Mr Gabriel said.

“這類襲擊沒有改變我們繼續支持阿富汗政府穩定國家的決心，”加布里爾表示。

Figures from the UN showed that last year was the deadliest in terms of civilian casualties in Afghanistan since it began recording data in 2009, with 3,498 civilians killed and 7,920 wounded — a 3 per cent rise on 2015. A recent report by John Sopko, the US special inspector-general for Afghanistan reconstruction, said more than 800 Afghan security forces died in the first six weeks of this year. Mr Sopko said in the report: “Afghanistan remains in the grip of a deadly war. Casualties suffered by the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces in the fight against the Taliban and other insurgents continue to be shockingly high.”

聯合國數據表明，自2009年開始記錄數據以來，去年是阿富汗平民遭受最嚴重傷亡的一年，有3498名平民死亡，7920名平民受傷，比2015年上升3%。美國的阿富汗重建特別監察長約翰?索普科(John Sopko)最近在一份報告中表示，今年頭六週就有800多名阿富汗軍警死亡。索普科在報告中說：“阿富汗仍然深陷一場你死我活的戰爭。阿富汗國防軍和安全部隊在打擊塔利班和其他叛亂分子時遭受的傷亡仍然高得令人震驚。”

The deteriorating security situation has caused Mr Trump to consider whether to send thousands of additional troops to the country, a move that would commit the US, at least for the medium term, to a conflict that is already by some counts its longest ever. The US invaded Afghanistan in the wake of the 2001 September 11 attacks.

安全局勢的惡化已導致特朗普考慮是否向該國增派數千兵力，此舉將使美國至少在中期參與這場衝突；按照一些人的計算，這已經是美國有史以來捲入的最漫長衝突。美國是在2001年9月11日恐襲事件後入侵阿富汗的。