dpa/NAN
UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Tuesday said over 85,000 people have been displaced in Afghanistan since the beginning of the year due to conflict and natural disasters.
According to a report, a total of 85,532 people were displaced between Jan. 1 and May 13, up by over 2,100 people compared to the previous week.
The highest number was in north-western Ghor province with 5,000 displacements followed by north-eastern Badakhshan with 4,000.
Media reports said over 445,000 people were displaced due to conflict in the country in 2017.
The report came as the Taliban ramp up attacks on Afghan government facilities, district centres and no less than one provincial capital since the announcement of their annual spring offensive.
Meanwhile, two earthquakes on May 9 and 10 either partially damaged of fully destroyed around 500 houses, with the majority located in Badakhshan.
“Another drought in Ghor and Badghis provinces forced some 15,000 people to move to western Herat,’’ the media report said.
The Afghanistan Natural Disaster Management Authority on Monday said that 26 people had been killed and some 90 homes were either partially damaged or fully destroyed due to flash floods and lightening across six Afghan provinces.
The military is battling a Taliban insurgency while also fighting the Islamic State group’s gradual expansion in the country’s north and its regular attacks in the capital Kabul.
In February, Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani offered a comprehensive peace deal to the Taliban, but the militants have not responded have increased their attacks and announced a new offensive.
Meanwhile previous peace offered to the militants was refused.
According to the country’s military, slightly over 14 per cent of Afghanistan’s approximately 400 districts are fully controlled by the Taliban while 30 per cent are contested.
