One of the best snipers in the Taliban ranks has become mayor of a city, AFP reported.

Damullah Mohibullah Mowaffaq was appointed mayor of Maymana, the capital of Faryab province in northwestern Afghanistan, in November, three months after the Taliban toppled the Western-backed government and seized power.

He rose to prominence as a fighter, but now his schedule is full with the daily tasks of local government -- unblocking sewers, planning roads, and smoothing over neighborhood quarrels.

"When I was fighting my objectives were very specific: to end the foreign occupation, discrimination and injustice," the 25-year-old told AFP.

"Now my goals are also clear: to fight corruption and make the country prosper," he added.

Strolling through the streets of Maymana, the new mayor talks to municipal workers clearing roadside drains. Residents of the city of a hundred thousand come forward with complaints and suggestions, which are added to the ever-growing to-do list.

"The new mayor is young, well-educated and, very importantly, from the city," says his non-Taliban deputy, Sayed Ahmad Shah Gheyasi.

Unlike the poor, madrassa-educated rural men who make up the Taliban rank and file, Mowaffaq comes from a family of wealthy traders and grew up in Maymana, where he excelled at school and in sport.

Memorabilia from his young age decorates his office including a certificate from a martial arts competition as well as his high school diploma.

After joining the insurgency at the age of 19, he was appointed commander of a small unit based in Faryab province.

He has been described as one of the Taliban's most talented snipers, though he seems reluctant to talk about the war.

But while walking with AFP, he stops in front of a house blemished with munition marks near the village of Doraye Khoija Qoshre, where his unit once held sway. Here he hid, watching the American troops with his rifle and earning himself a reputation as an excellent marksman.

"He killed an American with his rifle from this house, then a plane came and bombed him," said Saifaddin, a local farmer.

He witnessed the deaths of several comrades in action, but remains silent about the horrors he caused and endured. "I have had many ups and downs," he said.