ISIS重新占领历史名城帕尔梅拉

　　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武装人员在城市外围经过数日激战后似乎已经重新占领了历史名城帕尔梅拉，叙利亚军队随之撤退。

　　“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.”

　　“灾难发生了，我完全震惊了，”马木恩·阿卜杜卡里姆，叙利亚文物局长在电话采访中说道。“我丧失了希望，看起来我们丢了帕尔梅拉。”

　　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下属的新闻频道宣布星期日的作战取得胜利。该报道称伊斯兰国已经夺回整个帕尔梅拉。帕尔梅拉曾经是丝绸之路上的一片绿洲，以众多保存完好的历史遗迹而闻名。

　　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.

　　一个战争观察组织——叙利亚人权观察确认了帕尔梅拉的沦陷。这是ISIS第二次占领帕尔梅拉。去年五月，圣战分子经过一周的围城战之后攻陷了该城，引发叙利亚军队的大撤退。武装人员破坏了帕尔梅拉的博物馆和历史遗迹，炸毁了拥有两千年历史的巴尔神庙和凯旋门，并销毁了其他无价的文物，还杀害了帕尔梅拉的考古学家泰斗卡里德·阿拉萨德。

　　The group also carried out mass executionsin the historic amphitheatre.

　　ISIS还在历史古迹圆形剧场进行了大处决。

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

　　叙利亚军队在俄罗斯战机掩护下于今年三月打了一场被广为宣传的战役，夺回了帕尔梅拉。莫斯科在稍后在圆形剧场举办了音乐会。

　　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.

　　帕尔梅拉的陷落将会引起震惊，尤其当前ISIS在叙利亚和伊拉克正在退却，其主要将领都被消灭，在其占领地最大的两座城市摩苏尔和拉卡也面临着日渐增长的压力。

　　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.

　　阿卜杜卡里姆说帕尔梅拉众多文物已被转移至大马士革进行保护，这一具有先见之明的行动可以保护该城的历史遗迹，成为六年的叙利亚内战中为数不多的能够团结许多人民的事件。

　　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.

　　但老城中的联合国教科文组织承认的世界遗产，包括圆形剧场和古代城堡，仍然处于危险之中。还有少数人仍留在承重，据政府统计大约不到一千人。

　　“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.”

　　“我们只能祈求真主保佑帕尔梅拉，同时我们向国际社会呼吁保护帕尔梅拉，因为它是真正的东西方的桥梁，”阿卜杜卡里姆说。“不然我们只能为叙利亚遗产的毁灭而哭泣。”

　　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.

　　帕尔梅拉的沦陷激起了对于叙利亚军队能力的质疑。这支军队在多年战争中已经疲惫不堪，即使在俄军支援下能否守住领土也无法可知。帕尔梅拉外围的战斗历时四天，伊斯兰国武装顶着俄军一晚超过60次的轰炸占领了该城。

　　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.

　　此事也震惊了观察员们，因为ISIS正在多条战线上退却。无人机轰炸消灭了该组织的大部分头目，包括其发言人阿布·默罕默德·阿拉纳尼。伊拉克军队正在ISIS自称的哈里发国人口最密集的城市——摩苏尔的东半部缓慢推进，库尔德民兵和土耳其支持的反对派武装也在稳步占领ISIS的北叙利亚领地。

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

　　这一最近的胜利也显示出ISIS仍然有能力聚集足够的军力扩展领地。

　　“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.”

　　“这是同一剧本的重演，”阿卜杜卡里姆说。“今天我们会重新看一遍这部影片，这部恐怖片，如果他们留在城中的话。这会是对整个国际社会和人类文明的侮辱。我希望国际社会再次团结起来。不要再政治化这一事件了。帕尔梅拉是世界财富。”