The Afghan government took official control of the southern Taliban stronghold of Marjah today, installing an administrator and raising the national flag while US-led troops rooted out final pockets of militants.
The ceremony occurred in a central market as US marines and Afghan troops slogged through bomb-laden fields in northern parts of the town.
Some 700 residents gathered to see Abdul Zahir Aryan formally appointed as the top government official in Marjah, according to US officials at the event.
Mr Aryan and a team of advisers held their first meeting in the town Monday and have been staying overnight in a building there since Tuesday, said Marlin Harbinger, the senior US government representative for Helmand province, which contains Marjah.
"Today's event was the civilian Afghan government re-establishing itself officially in front of the local residents," Harbinger said. The Afghan army had previously raised the country's green-and-red flag nearby, but that was only a claim of military control over theneighbourhood, he said.
The ceremony opened with a reading from the Quran, and then Mr Aryan and the Helmand governor pledged to those gathered that they were ready to listen to their needs and eager to provide them with basic services that they didn't have under the Taliban.
The mass assault in southern Helmand province, with 15,000 Nato and Afghan troops, is the largest military operation in Afghanistan since the US-led removal of the Taliban regime in 2001.
Nato's strategy is to rout Taliban militants from the town, which had served as a logistical base and drug trafficking hub, restore the Afghan government's presence, and rush in public services in a bid to win over the confidence of local communities.
Nato said in a statement that while there are still occasional gunfights in Marjah, the number of residents returning has increased in recent days and shops have re-opened.
In a sign that the push to win over the population may be gaining traction, bomb tips from residents have increased by nearly 50 per cent, Nao said.
As the offensive closes in on its second week, 13 Nato troops and three Afghan soldiers have been killed, according to military officials. Eighty Nato troops have been wounded, along with eight Afghans. At least 28 civilians have been killed, including 13 children, according to the Afghan human rights commission.
The civilian toll has raised fears that Nato may lose the support of the population even as it drives out the Taliban. The deaths come even though Nato has said its priority is protecting the civilian population and has adopted strict rules to prevent casualties.
A spokesman for the Afghan Defence Ministry said both the Afghan government and Nato troops realised they had to be realistic and accept that there would be civilian deaths.
"Preventing civilian casualties is our biggest challenge," General Mohammad Zahir Azimi told reporters in Kabul. "You should not expect zero casualties, either from our side or from the international forces. That will only happen when the fighting is over. And we are all trying to make that happen."
AP