伊拉克和庫爾德武裝逼近ISIS佔領城市

Fighting flared across Iraq on Sunday as government and Kurdish forces stepped up efforts to dislodge Isis fighters from strongholds in Fallujah and around Mosul.

週日伊拉克戰火又起，伊拉克政府軍和庫爾德武裝加緊攻勢，試圖把“伊拉克與黎凡特伊斯蘭國”(ISIS)武裝驅離費盧傑和摩蘇爾附近的據點。

The Iraqi army, backed by special forces, Shia militias and coalition air power, deployed around the northern, western and southern approaches to the Sunni city of Fallujah. The city was taken by Isis in January 2014, months before the militant group’s rapid assault across Iraq.

伊拉克陸軍在特種部隊、什葉派武裝以及聯軍空軍的支持下，部署在遜尼派城市費盧傑北部、西部和南部要道。該市是在2014年1月被ISIS佔領的，數月後，ISIS在伊拉克各地發動快速進攻。

Isis forces responded to the assault on the outskirts of Fallujah with suicide bombs to the north and a counter-attack in the south of the city that was repelled by helicopter gunships. Isis is also trying to retake the town of Hit, further north-west in the province of al-Anbar, which it lost this year.

針對在費盧傑郊區面對的進攻，ISIS武裝分子在該市北部實施自殺式炸彈攻擊，並在該市南部發起反攻，但被武裝直升機擊退。ISIS還試圖重新攻佔西北方向更遠處、它在今年早些時候失手的安巴爾省Hit鎮。

In the campaign, launched a week ago, Iraqi forces have taken much of the territory encircling Fallujah, according to military officers cited by agencies.

各新聞通訊社援引軍官的話稱，在一週前發動的此次戰役中，伊拉克部隊已奪取費盧傑周邊大片地區。

While Sunni tribesmen have joined the forces seeking to oust Isis, Iranian backing for the Shia government in Baghdad has sparked concerns among Iraqi Sunnis, who fear reprisals as Shia militias spearhead the central government’s military advance into Isis areas.

儘管遜尼派部落加入了驅逐ISIS的力量，但伊朗方面對伊拉克什葉派政府的支持引起伊拉克遜尼派的擔憂。他們擔心，隨着什葉派武裝在中央政府針對ISIS控制地區的軍事打擊中打頭陣，自己會遭到報復。

Residents have already claimed that Shia militias torched farms and mosques after retaking the city of al-Karmah, close to Fallujah, over the weekend.

居民們已經聲稱，什葉派武裝在週末奪回費盧傑附近的al-Karmah市之後，燒燬了那裏的農場和清真寺。

On Saturday Sunni parliamentarians condemned a visit by Major General Qassem Soleimani, head of foreign military operations for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, to paramilitary forces fighting alongside the Iraqi army near Fallujah. They said Mr Soleimani’s visit would stoke sectarian tensions, undermining claims that the drive against Isis was a national endeavour.

上週六，遜尼派議員譴責伊朗革命衛隊境外軍事行動負責人卡西姆•索萊馬尼少將(Qassem Soleimani)視察正在費盧傑附近與伊拉克陸軍一起作戰的民兵武裝。他們表示，索萊馬尼的訪問將加劇宗派緊張局勢，削弱有關打擊ISIS是全國努力的主張。

Iran has defended its intervention, saying Mr Soleimani is in Iraq at the request of the elected government to “fight terrorists”.

伊朗爲其干預進行了辯解，稱索萊馬尼是應伊拉克民選政府的邀請才前往的，目的是“打擊恐怖分子”。

The US-led coalition is also helping a Kurdish offensive against villages about 20km east of Isis’s Mosul stronghold in northwestern Iraq. The Kurdish Regional Security Council said about 5,500 Peshmerga troops took part in the dawn offensive around Khazir on Sunday.

以美國爲首的聯盟也在幫助庫爾德武裝進攻距摩蘇爾以東大約20公里處的多個村莊——摩蘇爾是ISIS的重鎮，位於伊拉克西北部。庫爾德地區安全委員會(Kurdish Regional Security Council)表示，大約5500名“自由鬥士”(Peshmerga)武裝人員參與了週日在哈濟爾附近發起的黎明攻勢。