Ethiopian and Somali troops have taken a strategic stronghold of Islamist militants in south-western Somalia.
Eyewitnesses told the BBC that about 50 vehicles, including some 20 tanks, had entered Baidoa, which was not defended.
After the southern port of Kismayo, the town was the most important al-Shabab base.
The news comes as the UN Security Council voted to increase the African Union force in Somalia from 12,000 to 17,731.
These developments come ahead of a major conference to be hosted by the UK on Thursday aimed at ending two decades of conflict in the troubled country.
Al-Shabab, which has recently joined al-Qaeda, confirmed that it had withdrawn its forces from Baidoa as part of a "tactical retreat" and threatened to start a guerrilla war in response.
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