Civilian casualties in Afghanistan rose by 14% in 2009 compared with 2008, the UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has reported. It said that the "vast majority" of the deaths were caused by Taliban attacks.
The rise makes 2009 the worst year for Afghan civilians since the war began when the Taliban were overthrown in a US-led invasion in late 2001. The UNAMA says that there were 2,412 civilians killed in 2009 compared with 2,118 killed in 2008.
"The intensification and spread of the armed conflict in Afghanistan continued to take a heavy toll on civilians throughout 2009," the report said. Civilian casualties are a sensitive subject in Afghanistan, with US forces frequently accused of killing non-combatants in airstrikes.
The UN report said that deaths attributed to allied forces dropped by nearly 30% in 2009 - a statistic which correspondents say will be welcomed by the US military.In recent months it has made repeated assurances to the Afghan government that it will lower civilian casualties as part of it key goal of gaining support on the ground among Afghan people.
"This decrease reflects measures taken by international military forces to conduct operations in a manner that reduces the risk posed to civilians," the UNAMA report said.But it said that violence throughout 2009 was unrelenting, defying the usual winter lull.
Correspondents say that there is now rising concern that casualties will further rise once Nato and the US deploy 37,000 more troops to try to stabilize the country. The UN report says that because the Taliban insurgency escalated and spread from southern provinces where it began, the year 2009 was also the deadliest for foreign forces fighting the Taliban.
It said that previously stable areas, such as Kunduz province and elsewhere in the north-east, have witnessed increasing insecurity.
UNAMA figures show that there were 520 troop deaths throughout the year, up from 295 for the year before.
It said that 70% of last year's civilian deaths - representing about 1,681 people - were killed in insurgent attacks, while pro-government forces including Nato and US troops were responsible for 25%, or 596 civilian deaths. Another 135 civilians were killed in violence not attributed to the conflicting parties, it said.
"The year 2009 was the worst in recent times for civilians affected by the armed conflict," the report said. "UNAMA recorded the highest number of civilian casualties since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001."
The report comes in the same week as a poll commissioned by the BBC showed that most Afghans are increasingly upbeat about the state of their country. Of more than 1,500 Afghans questioned, 70% said they believed Afghanistan was going in the right direction - a big jump from 40% a year ago.
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