聯軍密集空襲重創ISIS石油生產

US-led coalition air strikes on Isis-held oilfields in eastern Syria have become so intense that locals say production could drop sharply, a move that would threaten the jihadi group’s most important revenue stream.

以美國爲首的聯軍對敘利亞東部“伊拉克和黎凡特伊斯蘭國”(ISIS)控制的油田進行的空襲變得如此激烈，以至於當地人稱產能可能大幅下降，此舉將威脅該聖戰組織最重要的收入來源。

A week of heavy strikes in Syria’s Deir Ezzor province has pounded Isis-controlled infrastructure and vehicles involved in the oil trade, which an investigation by the Financial Times estimates nets the group about $1.5m a day, and has helped embed it within civilian populations involved in the trade.

對敘利亞代爾祖爾(Deir Ezzor)一週以來的猛烈空襲，已重創ISIS控制下與石油貿易相關的基礎設施和車輛，而英國《金融時報》的一項調查估計，石油貿易每天可爲該組織帶來約150萬美元的淨收入，而且還幫助該組織藏匿於參與石油生意的平民中。

“The strikes are insane, sometimes 20 in a few hours,” said one man who lives near Syria’s al-Tanak oilfield and whose family has been trading in Isis-produced crude. “If the strikes go on like this they could stop oil production.”

“空襲太瘋狂了，有時幾小時內就有20輪，”一名住在敘利亞塔納克(al-Tanak)油田附近的男子說，他們一家一直在從事ISIS所產原油的買賣，“如果空襲照這樣持續下去，他們可能停止石油生產。”

Deir Ezzor activists like Jad al-Hussein, based in Turkey, see a total cut in production as unlikely but anticipate a substantial drop in trade. “A complete halt seems impossible because it is so essential to the area, including for civilians. Isis even uses it to produce electricity,” he said. “But I expect trade will decrease a lot.”

居住在土耳其的代爾祖爾籍活動人士——如賈德侯賽因(Jad al-Hussein)——認爲，完全停產不大可能，但預計交易將出現大幅下滑。“完全停產似乎是不可能的，因爲石油對這一地區如此至關重要，包括對平民而言。ISIS甚至用石油發電，”他說，“但我預計，交易將大幅減少。”

The coalition has escalated its campaign against Isis, which seized about half of Syria and nearly a third of Iraq in the past year. This week France led a dramatically increased number of air raids on its de facto capital, Raqqa, fuelled mostly by retribution for the Isis attacks in Paris last Friday.

聯軍已經升級了對ISIS的軍事打擊行動，過去一年，ISIS佔領了敘利亞約一半的領土以及伊拉克的近三分之一。很大程度上出於對上週五ISIS在巴黎發動襲擊的報復，法國本週急劇增加了對ISIS所謂首都拉卡(Raqqa)的空襲次數。

Activists and Syrian rebels fighting Isis say foreign fighters and their families have been moved out of the city. The Raqqa Revolutionaries’ Front, which has joined Syrian Kurdish forces co-ordinating on the ground with the coalition against Isis, says it has seen some fighters moving to Isis’s stronghold of al-Shadadi, near the Iraqi border.

與ISIS作戰的活動人士及敘利亞反對派武裝稱，外國戰士和他們的家人已經撤離了拉卡。已經加入敘利亞庫爾德人武裝——負責在地面配合聯軍打擊ISIS——的拉卡革命陣線(Raqqa Revolutionaries’ Front)稱，他們看到一些武裝分子在向ISIS位於伊拉克邊境附近的大本營沙達迪(al-Shadadi)轉移。

The UK-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, described a surge of Isis leaders’ families and other members of the group heading towards Iraq’s second city of Mosul, which Isis captured in 2014. The observatory reported that the families said Raqqa was “no longer safe” and that Mosul was more secure. The observatory says 33 Isis fighters were killed in the last three days of raids on Raqqa, and that at least two civilians died.

總部位於英國的監督組織——敘利亞人權觀察(Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)稱，ISIS領導人家屬以及其他成員正在奔向伊拉克第二大城市摩蘇爾(Mosul)，ISIS於2014年佔領該市。該監督組織報告稱，ISIS領導人家屬說拉卡已“不再安全”，摩蘇爾更安全些。該組織還稱，33名ISIS武裝分子在過去三天拉卡遭到的空襲中喪生，至少兩名平民死亡。

Isis has made huge profits from oil despite the drop in the international oil price — the benchmark Brent crude is currently at $45 a barrel — largely because local communities in war-torn Syria and Iraq are so dependent on its production. An effort to stop the flow of fuel smuggling across Turkey and Syria’s 100km border has therefore done little to dent Isis profits.

儘管國際油價大跌（當前基準布倫特(Brent)原油價格爲每桶45美元），但ISIS還是從石油中獲得了鉅額利潤，很大程度上因爲敘利亞與伊拉克一些飽受戰火摧殘的地區相當依賴石油生產。因此，阻止石油通過土耳其與敘利亞幾百公里邊境進行走私的努力，幾乎沒有對ISIS的利潤造成打擊。