军事一瞥:美英:巴基斯坦能够控制核设施

Leaders seek to calm Pakistan fears
The US and Britain tried to bolster confidence in Pakistan's ability to retain control of its nuclear arsenal yesterday in the wake of an audacious weekend attack by suspected Taliban militants on the headquarters of the country's army – previously described as impregnable.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said the attack on the base in Rawalpindi – close to the capital Islamabad – offered “another reminder that increasingly threatening the authority of the state”. But she added: “We see no evidence they are going to take over.”

Her comments, after a meeting with UK foreign secretary David Miliband, came as army commandoes regained control of the base in a dramatic pre-dawn raid. At least four of the attackers, three hostages and two commandoes were killed.

Attackers in army uniforms struck at the headquarters in Rawalpindi on Saturday.

The strike was the third major assault in a week – after bombs in Islamabad and Peshawar – in an apparent campaign to deter a planned army offensive against Taliban strongholds in the country's Waziristan region along the Afghan border.

It is likely to embarrass Pakistan after a recent series of setbacks for the militants in the northern Swat valley led the government to claim it was winning the battle against the Islamist group.

It will also alarm western powers that have been applying pressure on Islamabad to deal with the Islamist threat. During the battle to retake control of Swat, Pakistani leaders faced concerns from the west over militants coming precariously close to some of the country's known nuclear locations.

Mr Miliband said: “In respect of the nuclear issue, there is no evidence that has been shown publicly or privately of any threat to the Pakistani nuclear facilities.” He said: “It is very important that alarmist talk is not allowed to gather pace.”

美国和英国昨日试图增强外界对于巴基斯控制其核武器能力的信心，此前，疑为塔利班分子的武装人员周末悍然袭击了巴基斯坦陆军总部——先前这里被形容为固若金汤。

美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿(Hillary Clinton)表示，针对拉瓦尔品第军事基地（临近该国首都伊斯兰堡）的袭击“再次提醒人们，极端分子……正日益威胁这个国家的权威”。但她补充道：“我们没有看到任何证据表明他们将夺取政权。”

她是在与英国外交大臣戴维·米利班德(David Miliband)会晤后发表上述讲话的。此前，巴基斯坦陆军突击队经过一场惊心动魄的拂晓前突袭，已重新获得了该基地的控制权。在冲突中，至少有4名袭击者、3名人质和2名突击队员丧生。

上周六，一群身着军队制服的袭击者攻击了位于拉瓦尔品第的巴基斯坦陆军总部。

这是巴基斯坦一周内的第三次大规模恐怖袭击——此前伊斯兰堡和白沙瓦曾分别发生炸弹袭击事件。这些袭击显然是要阻止巴基斯坦计划中对该国与阿富汗交界处瓦济里斯坦(Waziristan)地区的塔利班据点发起的进攻。

恐怖袭击事件可能令巴基斯坦感到难堪，因为近来武装分子在该国北部斯瓦特(Swat)山谷接连遭受打击，巴基斯坦政府因此声称自己正赢得针对伊斯兰极端组织的斗争。

它还将给西方大国敲响警钟，这些国家一直在向巴基斯坦政府施压，要求其应对伊斯兰极端组织的威胁。在夺回斯瓦特山谷控制权的战斗中，武装分子曾危险地靠近巴基斯坦几处公开的核设施，西方国家为此感到担心。

米利班德表示：“谈到核问题，目前没有公开或秘密的证据表明，巴基斯坦的核设施面临任何威胁。”他表示：“不要让大惊小怪的说法变本加厉，这一点非常重要。”