庫爾德武裝奪回摩蘇爾水壩
Kurdish forces wrested control of Iraq’s strategically important Mosul dam from jihadi insurgents yesterday, after the US launched the most intensive day of air strikes since it began targeted intervention in the conflict 10 days ago. US President Barack Obama hailed the retaking of Iraq's largest dam as a "major step forward," in the fight against Islamist insurgents who have swept through the north of the country.
在美國發起了自10天前開始對伊拉克衝突採取定點干預以來最猛烈的一日空襲後，庫爾德武裝於昨日從伊斯蘭聖戰武裝分子手中奪回了摩蘇爾水壩。美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)將這一事件譽爲在打擊伊斯蘭武裝分子方面取得的“重要進展”。摩蘇爾水壩是伊拉克最大的水壩，對該國具有戰略重要意義。
Although Kurdish peshmerga forces, with the support of US air power and Iraqi military on the ground, were still clearing pockets of resistance by fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, local officials said they had retaken the dam in the most significant defeat for Isis so far.
儘管庫爾德“自由鬥士”(Peshmerga)武裝在美國空中力量和地面上的伊拉克政府軍的支持下，仍在清理來自“伊拉克和黎凡特伊斯蘭國”(ISIS)的小股抵抗，但當地官員表示，他們已經取得了迄今對ISIS的最大勝利，重新奪回了水壩。Iraqi and US officials feared that Isis could use the Mosul dam, three decades old and poorly maintained, as a weapon. Whoever controls the dam could cut off power or water to millions of Iraqis. If broken, the dam would destroy the northern city of Mosul and flood the capital, Baghdad.
伊拉克和美國官員曾擔心，ISIS可能將這座已有30年曆史、維護不善的水壩用作武器。只要控制了水壩，就能切斷數百萬伊拉克人的供電和供水。如果水壩被炸開，可能摧毀伊拉克北部城市摩蘇爾，淹沒伊拉克首都巴格達。
President Barack Obama interrupted his holiday yesterday to return to the White House to confer with his national security team on the crisis.
奧巴馬昨日中斷休假回到白宮，與他的國家安全團隊商討如何應對這一危機。The Pentagon’s central command said it had carried out 15 strikes yesterday on Isis positions surrounding the dam. Some 68 missions have been mounted since August 8.
五角大樓的中央司令部表示，它昨日對水壩周圍的ISIS陣地發動了15次打擊。自8月8日以來，美軍在伊拉克執行的任務已達約68次。The Mosul dam counter-offensive has been important in boosting the morale of the Kurds and the peshmerga, who withdrew in the face of an Isis advance in northern Iraq.
摩蘇爾水壩反擊戰對提升庫爾德人和“自由鬥士”武裝的士氣非常重要。面對ISIS在伊拉克北部的挺進，他們曾一度後撤。An aide to a senior Kurdish official said the victory had yet to be officially announced because a few pockets of resistance remained. Earlier in the day, military spokesman Lieutenant-General Qasim Atta also said the dam had been taken.
一名庫爾德高級官員的助手錶示，官方還未正式宣佈勝利，因爲仍然存在一些小股抵抗。今天早些時候，軍方發言人卡西姆•阿塔中將(Lieutenant-General Qasim Atta)也表示，水壩已被奪回。However, Roj Nuri Shawes, a senior Kurdish official and outgoing deputy prime minister of Iraq, said clearing out and securing the area could take time. “Isis has mined the towns and areas around the dam with explosives, meaning our forces have had to work very carefully to dismantle them.”
然而，庫爾德高級官員、伊拉克即將卸任的副總理魯什•努裏•沙維斯(Roj Nuri Shawes)表示，清理這一地區、讓其恢復安全可能需要時間。“ISIS在水壩周邊的城鎮和地區埋放了爆炸物，我們的部隊必須非常小心地展開排爆工作。”Isis insisted that reports that the “Kurdish-Crusader alliance” had retaken the dam constituted a fake media campaign.
ISIS堅稱，“庫爾德十字軍聯盟”(Kurdish-Crusader alliance)奪回水壩的消息是媒體的虛假宣傳。The move came as David Cameron, UK prime minister, said Britain would not deploy “boots on the ground” in Iraq but was prepared to arm Kurdish fighters.
這件事發生的同時，英國首相戴維•卡梅倫(David Cameron)表示英國不會向伊拉克派出“地面部隊”，但願意爲庫爾德士兵提供武裝。
