**巴基斯坦和阿富汗评估震灾损失**
救援人员正设法抵达在星期一发生的里氏7.5级地震中受灾的巴基斯坦和阿富汗边远地区。地震造成两国一共360多人丧生，2200多人受伤。
地震发生在阿富汗人烟稀少的巴达尚赫省，而死亡人数最多的是巴基斯坦西北部的开伯尔-普什图省。当地官员确认有至少202人死亡，超过1486人受伤。
美国之音记者星期二穿越了一些重灾区，看到军方主导的救援队忙于疏散受伤群众，并将紧急援助送到边远山区的灾民手中。
阿富汗总统加尼星期二在推特网站上说，阿富汗的死亡人数上升到115人，另有遍布8个省份的538人受伤。遇难者中包括12名学童，他们在逃出一座晃动的建筑物时发生踩踏而丧生。
援助官员说，将援助送至所有地震灾区需要时间。阿富汗红新月会的灾害管理负责人对美国之音表示：“总体来说安全是个问题。为了将援助或者救援队伍送往一个不安全的地区，就一定要与武装组织建立联系，确保不会遇到地雷或者军队行动。”
塔利班发表声明，敦促救援机构的工作“不要踌躇不前”，并下令该组织武装人员向灾民“提供全面的帮助”。
Pakistan, Afghanistan Assess Damage from Deadly Earthquake
Rescuers are working to reach remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan rocked by Monday's 7.5 magnitude earthquake that has killed more than 360 people and injured more than 2,200 others in both countries.
The quake struck northern Afghanistan's sparsely populated Badakhshan province, but the toll is the worst in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where officials have confirmed at least 202 people killed and more than 1,486 injured.
While traveling through some of the badly-hit areas Tuesday, VOA witnessed military-led rescue teams busy evacuating injured people and bringing emergency aid to victims in remote mountainous districts.
In Afghanistan, President Ashraf Ghani tweeted Tuesday that the death toll in his country had risen to 115 killed with 538 others injured in nine provinces. The deaths in Afghanistan include 12 schoolgirls who were killed in a stampede as they rushed out of shaking buildings in Takhar province.
Aid officials say getting assistance to all of the quake stricken areas will take time
"Security is a problem overall. When you want to deliver assistance or deploy teams in an insecure area you have to make sure you establish contacts with armed groups, make sure that there is not land mines or military operations on the ground. We’re trying. Right now, in some areas, we are operating in unsecure areas," he told VOA.
The Taliban issued a statement urging aid agencies to "not hold back" in their work and ordering the group's fighters to "lend their complete help" to victims.
**美国承认为击败伊斯兰国正艰苦努力**
美国最高军事官员星期二对国会议员表示，美军正加紧对叙利亚和伊拉克境内伊斯兰国目标的空袭，美国为打击这个激进组织正艰苦努力。
美军参谋长联席会议主席、海军陆战队上将邓福德在一次有关中东地区美国军事战略的听证会上说：“目前为止我们的进步不令人满意。”
美国防长卡特在参议院军事委员会的这次听证会上说，他对美国耗资5亿美元训练叙利亚温和派反对武装打击伊斯兰国的努力感到“失望”。美国本月初放弃了这一行动，之前只有少数士兵受训。
卡特表示，作为回应，美国加强了对伊斯兰国目标的空中打击，以期削弱其在叙利亚北部城市拉卡的控制。拉卡是伊斯兰国的行动总部。
US Concedes It's Struggling to Defeat Islamic State Insurgents
The United States says it is stepping up airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq, as top U.S. military leaders acknowledged to lawmakers Tuesday that the U.S is struggling to combat the insurgent group.
"No one is satisfied with our progress to date," Marine General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a hearing on the American military strategy in the Middle East.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee he was "disappointed" in the failure of a $500 million U.S. effort to train moderate rebel forces in Syria to fight against the Islamic State. The United States abandoned the program earlier this month after only a few soldiers had been trained.
In response, Carter said the United States has intensified its aerial campaign against the Islamic State in hopes of shrinking its hold on Raqqa in northern Syria, the headquarters of its operations.