Ethiopian and Somali troops have taken a strategic stronghold of Islamist militants in south-west Somalia.

Eyewitnesses told the BBC that about 50 vehicles, including some 20 tanks, had entered Baidoa city.

The BBC’s Mohamed Dhore in the capital, Mogadishu, says Baidoa was the most important al-Shabab base after the southern city of Kismayo.

Al-Shabab, which has recently joined al-Qaeda, confirmed that it had withdrawn its forces.