The US has for the first time banned its inspector in Afghanistan from publishing data on how much of the country is controlled by the Taliban and other Islamist rebels, as concerns rise about mounting violence just as President Donald Trump recommits to the war.

美国首次禁止其在阿富汗的监察人员发布由塔利班(Taliban)和其他伊斯兰主义反叛分子控制的阿富汗土地的占比数据。在美国总统唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)下令美军重新投入阿富汗战事后，阿富汗愈演愈烈的暴力活动引发了更大的担忧。

This month has been one of the deadliest in Afghanistan’s recent history. In the past few weeks, there have been three fatal attacks in Kabul and one on a Save the Children compound in Jalalabad, close to the Pakistan border. The combined death toll stands at close to 150.

本月是阿富汗近年来暴力袭击致死人数最多的月份之一。过去几周，在喀布尔发生了三起造成人员死亡的袭击，在临近阿富汗-巴基斯坦边境的贾拉拉巴德(Jalalabad)的一处“救助儿童会”(Save the Children)工作场所，也发生了一起造成人员死亡的袭击。死亡人数合计达到150人左右。

But at the request of the US defence department, this quarter’s US update on the country’s reconstruction, released on Tuesday, omitted some of its most significant data, including how much of the country the Afghan government controls.

但在美国国防部的要求下，周二美国发布的阿富汗重建情况最新季度报告删剪掉了一些最关键的数据，包括处于阿富汗政府控制下的土地的占比。

John Sopko, the US’s special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (Sigar) and the author of the report, says he is unsure why the information has been redacted. “The Taliban know how much they control, the Afghan government does and the US military does,” he says. “The only ones who don’t are the American people who are paying for it.”

该报告的作者、美国阿富汗重建特别监察长约翰•索普科(John Sopko)表示，他不确定为何这些信息遭到删剪。“塔利班知道他们控制了多少土地，阿富汗政府和美国军方也知道，”他说，“唯一不知道是为此买单的美国人民。”

In August, Mr Sopko reported the Afghan government was in control of 57 per cent of the country — down from 72 per cent in November 2015. Tuesday’s report also omits data on the overall strength of the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces.

去年8月索普科曾报告称，阿富汗政府控制了该国57%的土地，而2015年11月的数字是72%。周二的报告还删掉了关于阿富汗国防和安全部队整体实力的数据。

Outsiders say the defence department request suggests that, as the US recommits to the war under Mr Trump’s new strategy, officials are particularly sensitive about how the security situation has deteriorated.

外界人士表示，美国国防部的要求表明，美国依照特朗普的对阿新战略重新投入阿富汗战事后，官员们对阿富汗安全形势的恶化程度尤为敏感。

According to one US official: “We don’t know what the data say, but we do know one thing — good news is rarely classified.”

一名美国官员表示：“我们不知道那些数据说了什么，但我们知道一件事——好消息很少需要保密。”