北約年在阿富汗保留一萬兩千軍人

NATO says it will keep about 12,000 troops in Afghanistan for an extra year in 2016 to prevent the country from again becoming a safe haven for terrorists.

北約表示，明年、也就是2016年，將在阿富汗保留大約一萬兩千名駐軍，以防止阿富汗再度成爲恐怖分子的藏身之地。這等於是將北約之前的“撤軍時間表”向後延長了一年。

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday the alliance will pledge "approximately 12,000 troops" as part of its Resolute Support Mission in the region. He said that figure is in line with the current NATO troop strength in Afghanistan.

北約祕書長斯托爾滕貝格星期二表示，北約組織將承諾“大約一萬兩千名官兵”，作爲區域間“毅然援助使命”的一個組成部分。斯托爾滕貝格說，這個數字和北約目前駐紮在阿富汗的部隊官兵的數目是相符的。

Stoltenberg announced the pledge after alliance foreign ministers endorsed the decision.

斯托爾滕貝格是在北約各國外長對這一計劃表示贊同之後，對外正式宣佈的。

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 after the September 11 terrorist attacks to fight the Taliban. NATO took over command of the operation in 2003, but the alliance ended combat operations in 2014, leaving the Resolute Support Mission in place.

美國和其盟國在2001年的時候，也就是911事件恐怖襲擊之後，爲了同塔利班作戰，開始了阿富汗戰事。在隨後的2003年，北大西洋公約組織接管了美國和盟國在阿富汗的軍事運作統籌。北約在阿富汗的軍事作戰使命於2014年正式宣告結束，但是還有部隊官兵繼續留在阿富汗，從事“毅然援助使命”。

Today, Taliban militants are still mounting attacks, while the Islamic State group is gaining a foothold in the country.

目前，塔利班武裝團伙仍然在發動襲擊，而極端組織“伊斯蘭國”也在阿富汗境內力爭擴充地盤。