250,000 Afghans Displaced

USA Today reports:

More than 250,000 Afghans have fled their villages during the past two years of fighting, Refugees International says, in a report critical of U.S. Special Forces and other international and Afghan military operations for exacerbating the displacement of civilians.

The total cited in the report, to be released on Tuesday, is less than 1% of Afghanistan's estimated population of 28 million people, but it reflects people's concerns about their security as the war here nears its 10-year mark and the U.S. is poised to start withdrawing combat forces.

President Obama announced last week he was ordering 10,000 U.S. troops home by year's end; as many as 23,000 more are to leave by September 2012. That would leave 68,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.