Investigators are sifting through the rubble of the Pearl Continental Hotel in northwest Pakistan, searching for clues to Tuesday night's devastating truck bombing that killed at least 9 people and injured 70 others. Closed-circuit footage aired on Pakistani television stations shows how easy it was for the attackers to hit the five-star star hotel in Peshawar.
调查人员正在巴基斯坦西北部被炸毁的明珠大陆酒店的废墟里搜集线索，这场发生在星期二晚上的大爆炸怀疑是由载有炸药的卡车引发，至少造成15人死亡，70多人受伤。巴基斯坦电视台公布的闭路电视画面录下了袭击者是如何攻击这座白沙瓦五星级酒店的。
Just moments before the explosion, security cameras caught a white car driving up to a security gate, 150- to 200-meters ahead of the entrance to the hotel. Gunfire erupted from the car and, seconds later, a huge truck barrels right through the checkpoint and explodes in the parking lot of the hotel.
在爆炸发生前不久，安全录像捕捉到一辆白色汽车向安全大门驶来，距离酒店入口只有150至200米。车上有人开枪，紧随其后的一辆装满炸药的大卡车冲过检查站，在酒店的停车场爆炸，造成重大伤亡和破坏。
The blast was deadly and destructive; dozens of cars were demolished; a section of the hotel was reduced to rubble; and a huge crater was left in the parking lot. Scores of people were injured and the death toll is expected to rise, as bodies are discovered in the rubble.
十多辆汽车被炸毁，酒店一部分只剩一片瓦砾，停车场留下一个大坑，伤亡人数还在增加，废墟中不断找到尸体。
Police spent the night picking through the destroyed building, the city's only luxury hotel catering to foreigners and wealthy Pakistanis. Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province, has suffered a spate of attacks on soft targets, especially since early May, when the army officially began its offensive to drive Taliban militants out of nearby Swat Valley.
警方彻夜在现场搜集证据。被炸毁的酒店是巴基斯坦城市白沙瓦唯一开放给外国人和本国富人的豪华酒店。西北边境省首府白沙瓦从五月初开始，经常有针对民用设施的袭击，这段时间也是巴基斯坦军队向附近斯瓦特河谷的塔利班武装发动攻势的时期。
Security analysts Hassan Askari says it is clear that hotel management did not take security threats in the city seriously enough. He describes the security at Pearl Continental "extremely poor", in comparison to other upscale hotels in Pakistan.
安全分析专家阿斯卡里表示，酒店管理层显然没有重视白沙瓦的安全威胁。他形容明珠酒店的安保与巴基斯坦其他高档酒店相比非常差。
"It was amazing that these two vehicles could go in just straight on. I think it could be over-confidence and not spending money," he said. "It's sometimes denial that it [an attack] will not happen and sometimes it's a question of money. Because if you want to have secure security, obviously you end up spending more money and sometimes people are miserly with that. "
他说：“那两辆车能这样直接冲进来令人难以置信。我想这显示酒店过于自信，不想花钱。有时他们觉得不可能被攻击，有时是钱的问题。因为雇用安保服务要花很多钱，有人不想这样。”
Western security experts had recently warned management at the Pearl Hotel that its security was not sufficient and that it could easily be targeted.
西方安全专家近日曾警告明珠酒店，说他们的安全措施不足，容易成为攻击目标。
The style of the attack - shooting through a barricade, then detonating explosives - has become a recent signature of terrorists in Pakistan. That same tactic was used in last month's attack on a police building in Lahore, which killed at least 24 people.
这次袭击所采用的先向路障开枪，然后引爆炸药的手法，最近经常被恐怖分子用来袭击巴基斯坦目标。上个月拉赫尔的警察大楼受到袭击，手法如出一辙，造成至少24人死亡。
Askari says there are several steps that can be taken to deal with the escalating threat of terrorist attacks.
阿斯卡里说可以采用几种方法来应对不断严重的恐怖袭击威胁。
"I think the first thing that needs to be strengthened is intelligence services," said Askari. "They need to monitor these groups, try to penetrate these groups, because the best solution is that terrorists should be pre-empted from doing what they do. Second is that the government must use its resources to make people conscious that life cannot go on the way it used to be a couple of years ago. Pakistan has internally changed and the real struggle for Pakistan's survival is now internal. And, internal wars are are always problematic and difficult."
他说：“我认为首先可以强化情报工作。他们应该监控这些恐怖组织，设法渗透进去，因为最好的解决方法就是在恐怖分子攻击之前采取行动。第二就是政府应该利用资源让民众明白不能和很多年前那样过现在的生活。巴基斯坦国内变化巨大，现在巴基斯坦生死存亡的斗争发生在内部。而且内战总是复杂困难的。”
No one has claimed responsibility for the Peshawar attack. The city remains on high alert, but Pakistani officials are warning the public to expect more attacks in the future, even as they vow to defeat those behind them.
目前没有人表示为这次白沙瓦的袭击负责。整个城市处于高度警戒状态。虽然巴基斯坦官方誓言要战胜恐怖分子，但依然提醒公众说，未来还会有更多袭击。 |