An Ethiopian soldier has been killed and another
seriously wounded after unknown gunmen opened fire on
troops at a market in Kismayo, southern Somalia.
Somali
army commander Abdulrazak Afgudud told the BBC that
several people had been arrested.
The
Ethiopian soldiers were on board a pick-up truck when
the gunmen shot at them and escaped.
Ethiopia
has begun a phased withdrawal of its troops from Somalia
after helping the government oust Islamists.
The
BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Somalia says some of the
soldiers were shopping at the time of the attack and
were caught unawares.
"The
gunmen used pistols and they have taken away AK-47
riffles from the Ethiopian soldiers," witness
Abdullahi Hassan told the AP news agency.
Business
premises at the market have been shut down following the
attack - the first since Ethiopians and government
troops took control of Kismayo earlier this month.
Some
Islamists have pledged to conduct a guerrilla war
against government forces. More than 3,000 Islamist
gunmen are believed to have gone into hiding.
Kismayo
was the last major town held by the Union of Islamic
Courts to be taken by Somali government and Ethiopian
forces.
The
African Union is putting together a peacekeeping force
to replace the Ethiopians.
Uganda,
Malawi and Nigeria have all pledged to send troops but
it is not clear when they will start arriving.
