Somali gunmen have fired at a convoy of Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu in the latest attack on forces backing the government.
Saying Mogadishu was "in chaos", President Abdullahi Yusuf appointed officials today to take charge of the city where Somali troops, backed by Ethiopian forces, ousted Islamists in a December offensive.
The attack happened last night in the northern Arafat area where Ethiopian soldiers had helped government troops seize guns and explosives hours earlier.
It was not clear who carried out the attack in a city where much of the population has guns, although suspicion will fall on Islamist remnants who have vowed guerrilla war.
Al-Qaeda's deputy leader has urged the Islamists to launch an Iraq-style insurgency against Ethiopian troops.
Somali gunmen have fired at Ethiopian soldiers several times this month, and crowds have demonstrated against them. Militia loyal to warlords have also started returning to Mogadishu since the Islamists fled the capital late last month.
Ethiopia wants to withdraw its soldiers in the coming weeks, but diplomats fear that would leave the government vulnerable to the Islamists who have threatened a guerrilla war, warlords seeking to re-create fiefdoms and competing clans.
The government is seeking to install itself in Mogadishu in a country that has been without effective central rule since a dictator was ousted in 1991. On Saturday, Somalia's parliament declared a three-month state of emergency.