驻阿富汗美军司令呼吁美国增兵

The US needs to commit several thousand more troops to Afghanistan in an effort to break the “stalemate” there, according to the top American commander in the country, potentially presenting President Donald Trump with his first major military decision.

美国驻阿富汗最高指挥官表示，美国需要向阿富汗增派数千名士兵，以努力打破那里的“僵局”，这可能让唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)总统做出第一个重大的军事决定。

John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, told the Senate armed services committee the western coalition of troops that remained in the country had a “shortfall of a few thousand”.

美国驻阿富汗部队指挥官约翰•尼科尔森(John Nicholson)告诉参议院军事委员会(Senate Armed Services Committee)，留在阿富汗的西方联军存在“几千人的缺口”。

Mr Trump has so far said very little about his plans for Afghanistan, America’s longest war. From a peak of more than 100,000 US troops in the country in 2011, 8,600 remain in place.

迄今为止，特朗普几乎还没有谈及他对阿富汗问题的计划。阿富汗战争是美国所打的时间最长的战争。2011年，美国驻阿富汗军队达到逾10万人的峰值，如今只剩下8600人。

Afghan government forces control about two-thirds of the country and have in recent months come under pressure from Taliban militants in several major cities, including Kunduz, which the Taliban nearly over-ran last year. Taliban attackers were beaten back by a heavy US-Afghan counterattack but the battle claimed the lives of 33 civilians, according to a US military investigation.

目前，阿富汗政府部队大约控制了该国的三分之二的国土，但最近几个月在昆都士(Kunduz)等几座主要城市遭到塔利班武装力量的压力。去年，塔利班差一点攻占了昆都士。塔利班进攻部队被美国和阿富汗的大举联合反击击败，但据美国军方调查，这场战斗夺去了33名平民的生命。

The Afghan administration is also struggling to defeat militants from other organisations, including Isis. This week Isis claimed responsibility for a suicide attack outside the supreme court in Kabul that killed at least 20 people.

阿富汗政府也很难击败来自伊斯兰国(Isis)等其他组织的武装分子。本周，伊斯兰国宣称对在发生在喀布尔的最高法院外面的一次自杀式袭击负责。至少有20人在那次袭击中丧生。

On Thursday Mr Trump spoke by telephone to his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani. According to the White House the US president “emphasised the ongoing importance of the US-Afghanistan strategic partnership”.

周四，特朗普与阿富汗总统阿什拉夫•加尼(Ashraf Ghani)进行了电话交谈。白宫称，当时这位美国总统“强调了美阿战略伙伴关系的一贯重要性”。

General Nicholson suggested in his testimony to the Senate that he thought Mr Trump might be willing to increase troop numbers in the country, despite his previous criticism of US wars in the region.

尼科尔森在给参议院的证词中暗示，他认为特朗普或许愿意增加驻阿美军人数，尽管特朗普以前对美国打阿富汗战争提出了批评。

He also suggested James Mattis, the US defence secretary, might visit Afghanistan in the coming weeks.

他还暗示，美国国防部长詹姆斯•马蒂斯(James Mattis)或许会在未来几周内访问阿富汗。

In separate written testimony, meanwhile, Gen Nicholson criticised Russia — with which Mr Trump is keen to pursue closer relations — for strengthening the Taliban and undermining Nato in the country.

同时，在另一份书面证词中，尼科尔森批评俄罗斯在阿富汗加强了塔利班，削弱了北约(Nato)。目前，特朗普正热衷于拉近美国与俄罗斯之间的关系。