KABUL - A new United Nations (UN) report reveals that the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Afghanistan has dramatically increased since the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2001.

At least one million Afghans, representing three percent of the country's population, have been forced to leave their homes due to violence and insecurity, according to the report. Some 40 percent of Afghanistan's current IDPs are said to now live in the northeastern parts of the country.

The Afghan government and NATO coalition's war against the Taliban has waged on for well over a decade, and has had disastrous consequences on countless lives, families and communities around the country. Militant attacks targeting highly-populated areas, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) hidden throughout the countryside and airstrikes on villages have often been cited as the primary causes of high civilian casualty rates.

According to the UN, 10,000 Afghan civilians have been killed or injured in 2014. The report says that the use of both heavy and light weapons in residential areas has led to large numbers of casualties among women and children as well.

Looking to escape such a fate, many flee violence when it flares up in and around their communities. Some 180,000 people were displaced from their homes in 2014, more than in any single year since the war began, UN officials said. Yet they have warned that number could likely be surpassed in 2015.

"You have a different kind of fighting going on now," said Catherine Howard, the acting head of the UN's humanitarian operations in Afghanistan. "Now, you're seeing a more indiscriminate use of mortars in populated areas, and an increasing number of women and children impacted."

More than 14,600 families have been displaced in northern Kunduz province alone, the UN report says. Eastern Nangarhar province and souther Helmand have also witnessed thousands of residents displaced.

Abdul Salam Hashimi, the head of IDPs affairs in Kunduz, told TOLOnews that there are at least 4,630 displaced families living in the province. "Most of the families have been displaced from parts of Gortepa, Ali Abad, Chardara, Imam Sahib, Qala-i-Zal districts, and have moved to different parts of the province, including Kunduz city," he said.

Representatives of Parliament have taken up the issue. Kabul MP Sayid Ali Kazimi used the report as an opportunity to press the government to take greater action to redress the injustices visited on civilian communities being destroyed and displaced by violence. "All warring sides should be asked not to hurt civilians during battle," he said.

Ghulam Hazrat was displaced along with his family in Kunduz when their house was destroyed by rockets and mortars. "We were pushed to leave our houses and reside in the central city," he said.

There are currently Afghan military operations ongoing in 11 provinces, and security officials have assured that they are doing everything to protect civilian life. "We have been very careful in all military operations and have tried to prevent damage to civilians," Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said. (Tolonews)