BBC - Nato forces are taking control of military operations in southern Afghanistan from the US-led coalition which overthrew the Taleban in 2001.

The south - the traditional heartland of the Taleban - has recently been at the centre of intense fighting, and hundreds of people have been killed.

This is the first land deployment outside Europe for the Nato forces led by the UK and Canada.

Separately, a bomb blast has killed at least eight people in east Afghanistan.

The handover in the south will double the number of troops in the region.

International troop numbers have been building up in southern Afghanistan for months, ahead of the Nato expansion into the south.

But the BBC's Alastair Leithead in Kandahar says they take control of an area which has seen a dramatic deterioration in security over the past few months.

Over the weekend, coalition and Afghan forces said they had killed 20 militants in various clashes in the south and east.

In addition, six insurgents were said to have been killed on Sunday in the south-east.

Different mission

British and Canadian forces are taking the lead in the southern provinces, but their presence already has provoked heavy fighting which has seen hundreds of people killed this year.

"Today's transfer of authority demonstrates to the Afghan people that there is a strong commitment on the part of the international community to further extend security into the southern region's provinces," Lt Gen Karl Eikenberry, the commander of the US-led coalition, said in a statement.

The American-led coalition concentrated on counter-insurgency and had far fewer troops on the ground in the period since the Taleban were overthrown almost five years ago.

They have launched a new offensive, but the Nato mission is different.

Our correspondent says it is about helping the Afghan government regain control of these areas by bringing security, and on the back of that, good governance and development.

But many believe the task will prove particularly challenging since the insurgents have proved to be a stronger enemy than anticipated.

The British commander of the Nato force admits it will be a difficult mission.

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