Conflict displaces record number of Afghans in 2016, U.N. says

The number of people displaced by conflict in Afghanistan this year has surpassed half a million people, the United Nations reported on Wednesday, the highest number since it began tracking such statistics in 2008.

The number of people displaced by conflict in Afghanistan this year has surpassed half a million people, the United Nations reported on Wednesday, the highest number since it began tracking such statistics in 2008.

More than 515,800 people have been internally displaced by fighting in 2016, surpassing the previous record of about 471,000 set last year, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Violence has spread around the country as the Western-backed government battles Taliban and other insurgent groups.

The Taliban are estimated to control or contest nearly a third of the country, and casualties among civilians and the security forces are near record highs.