阿富汗动荡的一年在即将结束时迎来了新的希望，阿富汗跟塔利班的和解进程可能会实现。
The war Afghanistan began with the American invasion in 2001. It is the longest conflict in American history.
战争状态的阿富汗始于2001年米国入侵，这是美国历史上最长的冲突。
In September, long-time American diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad was appointed to negotiate an end to the war. He formerly served as the United States ambassador to both Afghanistan and Iraq.
今年9月，美国资深外交官扎尔迈·哈利勒扎德（Zalmay Khalilzad）被任命通过谈判来结束这场战争。哈利勒扎德曾担任过美国驻阿富汗和伊拉克大使。
Since his appointment, Khalilzad has made three trips to the area. He has spoken with representatives of the Taliban and Afghanistan's neighbors. Several developments led to these contacts. The most important of them was the United States agreeing to communicate directly with the Taliban.
自被任命以来，哈利勒扎德已经三次前往该地区。他曾与塔利班以及阿富汗邻国的代表进行会谈。一些事态发展导致了这些接触，其中最重要的是美国同意与塔利班直接谈判。
U.S. State Department official Alice Wells met with Taliban representatives in Qatar's capital, Doha, earlier this year.
今年早些时候，美国国务院官员爱丽丝·威尔斯（Alice Wells）在卡塔尔首都多哈会见了塔利班代表。
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had proposed peace talks to the Taliban several times in 2018. The first offer came in February, when he offered them a political office in Kabul. He also offered to cancel restrictions against Taliban leaders.
阿富汗总统阿什拉夫·加尼（Ashraf Ghani）在2018年多次向塔利班提出和谈。第一次是在今年2月，当时他向塔利班提供了一处位于喀布尔的政治办公室。他还提出取消对塔利班领导人的限制。
Taliban forces ignored the offers, which they said did not meet their most important demand: a withdrawal of all foreign forces from the country. The group also accused the Afghan government of taking orders from the U.S.
塔利班部队无视了这些提议，他们称这些提议没有满足他们最重要的要求，即所有外国军队撤离该国。该组织还指责阿富汗政府接受美国的指令。
The biggest news of the year from Afghanistan was the cease-fire during the Eid al-Fitr religious holiday in June. After 17 years of war, the two sides decided to halt fighting for three days to celebrate Eid.
今年阿富汗最大的新闻是6月开斋节期间的停火。经过17年的战争，双方决定停火3天以庆祝开斋节。
Images of militants and Afghan civilians spending time together flooded both traditional and social media. Taliban fighters were seen taking selfies, shaking hands and smiling at government security forces.
武装分子和阿富汗平民共同庆祝的照片充斥着传统媒体和社交媒体。照片上可以看到塔利班战士自拍、挥手并对政府安全部队报以微笑。
"Our leaders have ordered a three-day cease-fire," one Taliban fighter told the French news agency AFP. "We want a permanent cease-fire to resolve all our issues," he said.
一位塔利班武装分子对法国的法新社表示：“我们的领导人下令停火3天，我们希望能永久停火来解决所有问题。”
"We are all brothers," another one told VOA.
另一位塔利班武装分子对美国之音表示：“我们是兄弟。”
While all this was happening, the level of violence remained high throughout the year. The Taliban continued to launch thousands of attacks, severely testing the ability of Afghan forces. An attack on the city of Ghazni lasted for days and caused hundreds of deaths.
虽然这一切发生了，但是全年的暴力程度仍然很高。塔利班继续发动了数千次袭击，严重考验了阿富汗部队的能力。塔利班对加兹尼市的袭击持续了数天，造成了数百人死亡。
The United Nations says Afghan civilians continued to die in record numbers in 2018. U.S. generals were reported as saying that the losses suffered by Afghan security force were unsustainable.
联合国表示，2018年阿富汗平民死亡人数持续突破记录。据报道，美国将领认为阿富汗安全部队的死伤已经到了无以为继的地步。
Twelve Americans died in action in Afghanistan in 2018. A U.S. military report showed that the Afghan government's control over territory dropped to the lowest level -- 55.5 percent.
2018年有12名美国人在行动中死亡。美国的一份军事报告显示，阿富汗政府对国土的控制率降至了55.5%的最低水平。
During the same period, the United States increased its troop numbers -- to 14,000 from fewer than 10,000 last year -- and airstrikes in support of Afghan troops. U.S. military reports say that the U.S. Air Force dropped a record number of bombs this year, at almost 6,000 by October.
在同一期间，美国的部队人数从去年的1万人增加到了今年了14000人，并加强了支持阿富汗部队的空袭行动。美国军方报告称，今年美国空军投下的炸弹创下了创纪录的数字，截至10月投下了近6千枚炸弹。
Afghanistan held parliamentary elections in October. However, the results were damaged by political disputes between two groups: the country's Independent Election Commission and the Electoral Complaints Commission.
阿富汗于10月份举行了议会选举。然而，阿富汗国家独立选举委员会和选务申诉委员会这两家组织之间的政治争端损害了选举结果。
In addition, another group, Islamic State, continued attacking targets in Nangarhar province and Kabul city throughout the year.
此外，伊斯兰国组织全年继续袭击楠格哈尔省和喀布尔市的目标。
2018 in Afghanistan is ending with a hope that the increased push by the United States and the willingness by the Taliban to negotiate may produce results next year. The negotiations are in still development right now, and a road map to some form of reconciliation has yet to take shape.
人们带着对美国的进一步推动以及塔利班的谈判意愿可能会在明年产生结果的希望，即将迎来2018年的结束。谈判目前仍处于发展阶段，尚未形成某种形式的和解路线图。
I'm Caty Weaver.
我是凯蒂·韦弗。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，禁止转载，违者必究！)