伊拉克叛軍進逼首都巴格達

Iraq’s Shia-dominated government launched air strikes on Sunni insurgent positions in and around the country’s second city of Mosul as Islamist forces hurtled toward the capital and Kurdish troops seized control of the key oil city of Kirkuk.

伊拉克什葉派(Shia)主導的政府對該國第二大城市摩蘇爾(Mosul)及周圍的遜尼派(Sunni)叛軍陣地發動空襲。目前伊斯蘭主義武裝力量正向首都巴格達進軍，而庫爾德武裝力量奪取了石油重鎮基爾庫克(Kirkuk)的控制權。

The latest moves by the country’s major ethnic and sectarian groups raised fears of a deepening of Iraq’s de facto partition into separate Shia, Kurdish and Sunni areas. “The state of Iraq is in imminent collapse,” said Faisal Istrabadi, Iraq’s former deputy ambassador to the UN.

伊拉克各大民族和教派組織的最新動作，令人擔憂該國什葉派、庫爾德人和遜尼派地區事實上的分割深化。“伊拉克作爲一個國家即將崩潰，”曾擔任伊拉克駐聯合國副大使的費薩爾•伊斯特拉巴迪(Faisal Istrabadi)表示。

State television aired images of what it described as air strikes on insurgent positions in Mosul, the capital of an oil-rich province, seized on Tuesday by militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (known as Isis) as Iraqi forces abandoned their posts.

官方電視臺播出了其所稱的對摩蘇爾叛軍陣地的空襲。摩蘇爾是一個石油儲量豐富的省份的首府，本週二被“伊拉克與黎凡特伊斯蘭國”（Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant，簡稱Isis）的武裝分子攻佔，當地的伊拉克駐軍沒有抵抗。

Shares in oil explorers focused on northern Iraq tumbled as investors took fright amid fears the violence could spread to Kurdistan, a mere 80km away.

專注於伊拉克北部石油勘探的企業的股票下挫，投資者擔心暴力可能蔓延至僅80公里外的庫爾德斯坦地區(Kurdistan)。

Genel Energy, run by Tony Hayward, former chief executive of BP, had fallen 5 per cent since Wednesday morning, while DNO International was down 8 per cent and Gulf Keystone 16 per cent. But the companies tried to reassure nervous investors that events in Mosul will not affect operations. “For us it’s business as usual,” Genel said.

英國石油(BP)前首席執行官唐熙華(Tony Hayward)執掌的Genel Energy股價自週三早上以來下跌5%，而DNO International下跌8%，Gulf Keystone下跌16%。但這些公司試圖安撫緊張的投資者，稱摩蘇爾的事件不會影響勘探作業。“對我們來說，一切照常進行，”Genel Energy表示。

Amid mounting concern in the west and the region at the rapid turn of events, the US was examining air strikes and other forms of direct military action against the insurgents. The White House, however, is deeply reluctant to become involved again in the Iraq war.

在西方越來越擔憂、而地區形勢快速變化之際，美國正研究對叛軍發起空襲和其他形式的直接軍事行動。不過，白宮很不願意再度捲入伊拉克戰爭。

President Barack Obama refused to rule out any potential responses to the violence.

美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)拒絕排除對暴力作出潛在迴應。

“What we’ve seen over the last couple of days indicates Iraq’s going to need more help” from the US and from the international community, he said in the Oval Office. The White House had been working “around the clock” on options for how to respond, he said.

“我們在過去兩天看到的事態表明，伊拉克將需要（美國乃至國際社會的）更多幫助，”奧巴馬在白宮橢圓辦公室表示。他說，白宮正在“晝夜”努力，研究各種迴應方案。

Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, called for a volunteer army to fight the invading insurgents, and a powerful Shia cleric urged the creation of a militia to defend southern Iraqi holy sites from Isis and its allies, which were fighting for control of Samarra and other Sunni towns on the road south from Mosul to Baghdad.

伊拉克總理努裏•馬利基(Nouri al-Maliki)號召成立一支義軍抗擊步步進逼的叛亂分子。一名有影響的什葉派神職人員則呼籲成立一支民兵部隊，保衛伊拉克南部聖地不受Isis及其盟友的侵犯。目前Isis的武裝分子正在攻打薩邁拉(Samarra)和其它遜尼派城鎮，意圖沿着公路從摩蘇爾南下，直取巴格達。