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美军在非洲策划小型高效行动

U.S. military leaders are promising¹ a small-scale, but effective plan for dealing² with terrorist threats throughout Africa. The head of the military's Africa Command says that U.S. forces are carrying out reconnaissance missions across the continent but Washington has no plans to expand its permanent presence in Africa.

美国军方领导人说，美军一定会拿出一套小规模而高效率的方案来应对非洲各地的恐怖分子威胁。美国非洲司令部最高指挥官说，美军正在非洲大陆各地展开侦察行动，但美国并不计划扩大在非洲的永久性存在。

Onboard a U.S. military transport plane ready for takeoff from the airport at Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso are U.S.-trained Burkinabe troops on a training mission to Mali.

一架美军运输机从布基纳法索首都瓦加杜古的机场起飞。飞机上有美国训练的布基纳法索部队，他们执行训练任务，前往马里。

The airport is the hub of what the Washington Post newspaper recently reported is a growing operations and surveillance network that the U.S. is setting up across much of Africa.

《华盛顿邮报》最近报导说，美国在非洲各地建立的行动和侦察网络不断扩展，这个机场就是一个中心枢纽。

U.S. officials are not confirming the newspaper’s reports that the military is using small, unarmed turboprop planes disguised as private aircraft to conduct surveillance.

这家报纸报导说，军方正利用小型、非武装的螺旋桨飞机伪装民用飞机来执行侦察任务。美国官员对此不予证实。

The details of such operations are secret, but General Carter Ham, commander of U.S. forces in Africa, says the missions themselves are not.

这类行动的细节是保密的。但是驻非美军司令卡特?哈姆上将说，这些任务本身并不是什么机密。

“Do we collect information across Africa? Yes we do. But we do that with the consent, first of all, of our ambassador and secondly³ with the consent of the nations involved,” Ham explained.

他说：“我们是不是在非洲各地搜集信息？是的。但是我们首先要取得我国大使的同意，然后还要取得有关国家的同意。”

The United States military is increasing its focus on Africa as part of President Obama’s new defense⁴ strategy.

美国军方正在加强对非洲的关注，这是奥巴马政府新的防御战略的一部分。

That strategy calls for U.S. forces to enable partner nations to deal with security threats in the face of growing activity by militant⁵ groups, including al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, al-Shabab in Somalia and Boko Haram in Nigeria.

这套战略要求美军加强伙伴国的能力，在激进团伙活动日益猖獗之际，应对安全威胁。这些激进团伙包括伊斯兰马格里布基地组织、索马里的青年党和尼日利亚的博科圣地组织。

About 100 U.S. Special Operations Forces troops have been in Uganda for months, supporting troops from partner nations who fight the Lord’s Resistance Army group, and helping⁶ them hunt for the group's leader, Joseph Kony.

大约100名美国特种部队成员已经在乌干达驻扎了几个月，向同圣主抵抗军作战的各伙伴国部队提供帮助，并协助他们搜捕该组织的首领约瑟夫?孔尼。

General Ham says the troops’ stay is temporary and the U.S. has no plans to build any new permanent bases in Africa.

哈姆将军说，美军是临时派驻乌干达的，美国没有在非洲建立新的永久性基地的计划。

“We are not seeking, other than Djibouti, any other long-term U.S. presence on the continent,” Ham added.

他说：“除了吉布提之外，美国不寻求在非洲大陆其它任何长期性的存在。”

Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti is the only permanent U.S. base in Africa, serving as a jump off point for efforts to fight threats in bordering Somalia, across the Red Sea in Yemen and other parts of the Middle East.

吉布提的莱蒙尼尔军营是美国在非洲的唯一永久性军事基地。美军把这里作为打击来自邻国索马里、也门红海地区和中东其它地方威胁的出发据点。