Witnesses in southwestern Somalia say fighting between government troops and Islamist militants has killed at least 14 people.
The clash broke out Wednesday in the Bakool region, after government troops attacked a base belonging to the al-Shabab militant group in the Rabdhure district.
Heavy gunfire was exchanged and at least one vehicle was burned. Another vehicle was reported to have been captured by the militants.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The last Ethiopian troops left Somalia’s capital on Thursday after a two-year deployment and Islamist militiamen took control of the bases, fueling fears they could try to expand their power in this lawless Horn of Africa nation.
Ethiopia’s prime minister said he could not predict what would happen when his troops leave Somalia completely, but he expected the extremist Islamic group, al-Shabab, and others to try to seize control.
Al-Shabab, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization with links to al-Qaida, says it wants to establish an Islamic …

Ethiopian troops have begun pulling out of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, after two years of backing the Somali government in its fight against Islamist insurgents.
Hundreds of residents have flocked to see the now-empty Ethiopian bases north of the city, some of them dancing and singing to celebrate the departure of the deeply unpopular Ethiopian forces.
At a handover ceremony at the presidential palace Tuesday, Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein thanked the Ethiopian troops for their sacrifices.

MOGADISHU, Somalia — At least two dozen people, including six children, were killed in heavy fighting here in Somalia’s capital on Friday as government troops tried to reassert control and Islamist insurgents fought back fiercely, witnesses said.
Bodies littered the streets of the bullet-pocked city, and hundreds of residents began to flee. Both sides claimed victory.

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Suicide bombers struck a U.N. compound, the Ethiopian consulate and three other targets in northern Somalia Wednesday, killing at least 22 people in attacks that coincided with international talks in neighboring Kenya about Somalia’s political crisis.
Three of the five bombings hit the breakaway republic of Somaliland, one of them exploding at the palace of the regional president. Bombers also simultaneously attacked two intelligence facilities in the semiautonomous northern region of Puntland. All the attacks were in the morning.

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed is a veteran Somali politician, and the current transitional President of Somalia.

NAIROBI, – Somalia’s government signed a ceasefire agreement with some opposition figures on Sunday, meeting an opposition demand by giving a date for the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces backing the interim administration.
More then 10,000 people have been killed and 1 million displaced in fighting since early last year, pitting President Abdullahi Yusuf’s government and allied Ethiopian forces against Islamist rebels — mainly the al Shabaab militia, listed by Washington as a terrorist group.