ISIS重新佔領歷史名城帕爾梅拉

Islamic State retakes historic city ofPalmyra

ISIS重新佔領歷史名城帕爾梅拉

Islamic State fightersappear to have reconquered the historic city of Palmyra after days of intensefighting on its outskirts prompted a withdrawal by the Syrian military.

ISIS武裝人員在城市外圍經過數日激戰後似乎已經重新佔領了歷史名城帕爾梅拉，敘利亞軍隊隨之撤退。

“The catastrophe has happened, I am inabsolute shock,” said MaaMounAbdulkarim, Syria’s director of antiquities, in a phone interview.“I am losing hope, it looks like we have lost the city.”

“災難發生了，我完全震驚了，”馬木恩·阿卜杜卡里姆，敘利亞文物局長在電話採訪中說道。“我喪失了希望，看起來我們丟了帕爾梅拉。”

An Isis-affiliated news channel claimedvictory in the battle on Sunday, saying its soldiers had reclaimed control ofthe entirety of Palmyra,once a Silk Road oasis that boasted some of the best-preserved ruins ofantiquity.

ISIS下屬的新聞頻道宣佈星期日的作戰取得勝利。該報道稱伊斯蘭國已經奪回整個帕爾梅拉。帕爾梅拉曾經是絲綢之路上的一片綠洲，以衆多保存完好的歷史遺蹟而聞名。

It was the second time Isis has seizedPalmyra. In May last year, jihadi militants stormed the city after a week-longsiege that ended with the mass retreat of the Syrian military. Militantsrampaged through the city’s museums and ruins, blowing up the 2,000-year-oldtowering Temple of Bel and the Arch of Victory, along with other pricelessartefacts, and killed Khaled al-Asaad, Palmyra’s long-serving leadingarchaeologist.

一個戰爭觀察組織——敘利亞人權觀察確認了帕爾梅拉的淪陷。這是ISIS第二次佔領帕爾梅拉。去年五月，聖戰分子經過一週的圍城戰之後攻陷了該城，引發敘利亞軍隊的大撤退。武裝人員破壞了帕爾梅拉的博物館和歷史遺蹟，炸燬了擁有兩千年曆史的巴爾神廟和凱旋門，並銷燬了其他無價的文物，還殺害了帕爾梅拉的考古學家泰斗卡里德·阿拉薩德。

The group also carried out mass executionsin the historic amphitheatre.

ISIS還在歷史古蹟圓形劇場進行了大處決。

The Syrian army, backed by Russian fighterjets, reclaimed the city in March this year in a well-publicised ow organised a musical concert at the amphitheatre shortly afterwards.

敘利亞軍隊在俄羅斯戰機掩護下於今年三月打了一場被廣爲宣傳的戰役，奪回了帕爾梅拉。莫斯科在稍後在圓形劇場舉辦了音樂會。

The loss of the city will come as a shock,particularly with Isis in retreat throughout Syria and Iraq withthe killing of its top lieutenants and facing increasing pressure in its twolargest cities, Mosul and Raqqa.

帕爾梅拉的陷落將會引起震驚，尤其當前ISIS在敘利亞和伊拉克正在退卻，其主要將領都被消滅，在其佔領地最大的兩座城市摩蘇爾和拉卡也面臨着日漸增長的壓力。

Abdulkarim said the vast majority of theartefacts that were in Palmyra had already been moved to Damascus forsafekeeping, a prescient move that may help preserve something of the city’sheritage, one of the few aspects that unite many Syrians after nearly six yearsof civil war.

阿卜杜卡里姆說帕爾梅拉衆多文物已被轉移至大馬士革進行保護，這一具有先見之明的行動可以保護該城的歷史遺蹟，成爲六年的敘利亞內戰中爲數不多的能夠團結許多人民的事件。

But the remaining buildings in the oldcity, a Unesco world heritage site, including the amphitheatre and the ancientcitadel, remain at risk. There were few people left in the city; under 1,000 bygovernment estimates.

但老城中的聯合國教科文組織承認的世界遺產，包括圓形劇場和古代城堡，仍然處於危險之中。還有少數人仍留在承重，據政府統計大約不到一千人。

“We can only pray to God to protect Palmyraand we appeal to the international community to protect Palmyra, because it isa bridge truly between east and west,” said Abdulkarim. “Otherwise we will weepfor more destruction of Syria’s heritage.”

“我們只能祈求真主保佑帕爾梅拉，同時我們向國際社會呼籲保護帕爾梅拉，因爲它是真正的東西方的橋樑，”阿卜杜卡里姆說。“不然我們只能爲敘利亞遺產的毀滅而哭泣。”

The loss of Palmyra a second time raisesquestions about the ability of the Syrian military, worn down after years offighting, to hold territory even with the backing of its Russian allies. Thebattles on the outskirts of Palmyra have been ongoing for four days and IslamicState’s takeover was preceded by a night of intensebombardment by Russian warplanes, which carried out more than 60airstrikes.

帕爾梅拉的淪陷激起了對於敘利亞軍隊能力的質疑。這支軍隊在多年戰爭中已經疲憊不堪，即使在俄軍支援下能否守住領土也無法可知。帕爾梅拉外圍的戰鬥歷時四天，伊斯蘭國武裝頂着俄軍一晚超過60次的轟炸佔領了該城。

It will also come as a shock to observersas Isis is in retreat on multiple fronts. Drone strikes have claimed the livesof most of the group’s leading officials, including its spokesman, Abu Mohammadal-Adnani. Iraqi troops are inching their way through the eastern half ofMosul, the most populous city under the self-proclaimed caliphate’s control,and Kurdish paramilitaries as well as Turkish-backed rebels have been steadilygaining ground against the militants in northern Syria.

此事也震驚了觀察員們，因爲ISIS正在多條戰線上退卻。無人機轟炸消滅了該組織的大部分頭目，包括其發言人阿布·默罕默德·阿拉納尼。伊拉克軍隊正在ISIS自稱的哈里發國人口最密集的城市——摩蘇爾的東半部緩慢推進，庫爾德民兵和土耳其支持的反對派武裝也在穩步佔領ISIS的北敘利亞領地。

The latest conquest also shows Isis stillhas the ability to rally sufficient troops to its cause to conquer territory.

這一最近的勝利也顯示出ISIS仍然有能力聚集足夠的軍力擴展領地。

“It’s a repeat of the same scenario,” saidAbdulkarim. “Today we will watch that same film again, that horror movie, ifthey stay in the city. It will be an insult to the entire internationalcommunity and to civilisation as a whole. I hope the international communityunites on this again. It must not be politicised. Palmyra is an internationaltreasure.”

“這是同一劇本的重演，”阿卜杜卡里姆說。“今天我們會重新看一遍這部影片，這部恐怖片，如果他們留在城中的話。這會是對整個國際社會和人類文明的侮辱。我希望國際社會再次團結起來。不要再政治化這一事件了。帕爾梅拉是世界財富。”