全民共愤,美国警方全力搜查爆炸案线索

Federal and local police in Boston are undertaking a painstaking examination of video images and photographs from the site of Monday’s attack, which Barack Obama described as “an act of terror”.

美国联邦及波士顿当地警察正在认真检查星期一波士顿爆炸案的视频画面和照片。巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)称这次爆炸案是“恐怖主义行为”。

Police appealed for witnesses to send in any images they had of the area around the finishing line of the Boston marathon, as they hunker down for what could be a long and difficult investigation.

警方呼吁目击者提交在波士顿马拉松终点线周围区域拍下的任何画面。警方正在着手调查这起可能漫长而艰难的案件。

In a brief comment yesterday the president said the authorities still did not have “a sense of motive” for what he called “a heinous and cowardly act”. The police did not know whether the two bombs were the work of foreign or domestic terrorists or “a malevolent individual”.

昨日美国总统在简短的评论中表示，当局对作案动机仍无把握，他称这次爆炸案是“既十恶不赦又懦夫般的行为”。警方不知道两起爆炸案是外国恐怖分子还是国内恐怖分子，亦或是“恶毒的个人”所为。

Boston police said 176 people were injured by the two explosions, which took place within about 20 seconds of each other on Monday afternoon, with 17 people in critical condition. Three people died, including Martin Richard, an eight-year-old boy.

波士顿警方表示，两起爆炸导致176人受伤。这两起爆炸发生在周一下午，前后相距约20秒钟。17名伤者伤势严重。已有3人死亡，包括8岁男孩马丁•理查德(Martin Richard)。

Police said no other unexploded devices had been found, contrary to reports.

警方表示，没有发现其他未爆炸的设备，这与媒体报道的说法相反。

In an indication of the skittish atmosphere engendered by potential further security threats, an aircraft at Logan airport in Boston was held on the ground while two passengers were removed for unspecified reasons, and a section of New York’s LaGuardia airport was evacuated over a suspicious package.

波士顿洛根机场(Logan Airport)的一架飞机被扣留在地面，机上两名乘客被带走，原因未知。纽约拉瓜迪亚机场(LaGuardia Airport)的一个区域因一件可疑包裹而疏散。这些迹象都表明，潜在的进一步安全威胁引发了不安定气氛。

Despite the huge investments in security since the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, security officials said the Boston marathon bombings app­eared to exploit the most vulnerable possible situation: a low-tech device left at an open event that attracts tens of thousands of visitors across a large part of the city.

尽管自2001年纽约和华盛顿遭到恐怖袭击以后，美国投入重资加强安全，但安全官员表示，波士顿马拉松爆炸案似乎利用了可能存在的最为脆弱的情形：在吸引数万观众、范围覆盖市内大片区域的公开活动上，放置低科技的爆炸装置。

The initial details from the attacks gave only small clues to potential suspects, according to security experts, although the FBI said it was pursuing a number of leads.

安全专家指出，最初的袭击细节只透露出有关潜在嫌疑人的细小线索，尽管美国联邦调查局(FBI)表示正在追查数条线索。

“It is very early to say, but the fact this took place on tax [filing] day and was a low-tech device seems to suggest it could be someone other than a conventional al-Qaeda attack,” said Juan Carlos Zarate, a former deputy national security adviser now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. During the past decade, Islamist terrorist groups had been eager to claim responsibility for attacks, he said. “We might have to get used to the idea that it could take weeks or even months” to solve the case, he said.

前副国家安全顾问、现就职于华盛顿国际战略研究中心(Center for Strategic and International Studies, CSIS)的胡安•卡洛斯•萨拉特(Juan Carlos Zarate)表示：“现在得出结论为时尚早，但这起事件发生在报税截止日，而且装置的技术含量低，似乎表明本案可能不同于传统的基地组织(al-Qaeda)袭击。”他表示，过去10年间，伊斯兰恐怖组织急于声称对袭击事件负责。他指出，“我们可能要习惯于，要花上数周甚至数个月的时间”才能侦破此案。