London  - The overwhelming majority of Aghans believe that poverty and unemployment resulting from "30 years of unrelenting horror" are the major causes behind the enduring conflict in their country, the aid organization Oxfam said in a report released Wednesday.

According to London-based Oxfam, 70 per cent of Afghans named poverty and unemployment as the main reasons for the conflict, followed by 48 per cent who said corruption and ineffective government were to blame.

The survey showed that 36 per cent believed Taliban-inspired violence was the main cause, while 25 per cent blamed interference by other countries.

Of the 704 people interviewed for the survey, just 18 per cent thought the Taliban were to blame. The same proportion thought the presence of international forces was responsible for the conflict situation.

Oxfam said one in five people had been tortured and one in 10 had been imprisoned at least once in Afghanistan since the 1979 Soviet invasion.

Just 1 per cent reported having received any form of compensation or apology for the harm suffered over the past three decades.

The Oxfam researchers found that three quarters of Afghans had been forced to leave their homes since 1979. One in six Afghans were currently considering leaving their country.

"The people of Afghanistan have suffered 30 years of unrelenting horror. In that time millions have been killed and millions more have fled their homes ... Afghan society has been devastated," said Barbara Stocking, Oxfam chief executive in the report.

"Repairing this damage can't be done overnight. It will take a long time for the economic, social and psychological scars to heal," said Stocking.

The international community needed to understand that Afghanistan "needs more than military solutions," she said. It needed support for agriculture, better infrastructure, schools and health services.

"Ordinary Afghans want peace and an end to conflict, and they want to see the root causes of fighting dealt with," she said. (dpa)