A faction opposed to the interim government in Somalia has seized the southern town of Garbaharey.
Local people say the rebel group was supported by Ethiopian troops.
A government delegation, which was visiting the town, was forced to flee but is reported to be safe. The government in Mogadishu says that one person was killed in the attack. President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan is struggling to impose his authority These, he said, were members of a splinter group of the Somali National Front led by Colonel Abdurazak Issak Bihi. The Somali Government was elected at a reconciliation conference in Djibouti last August and is the country's first central administration since 1991. The loss of Garbaharey, in Gedo province, is a blow to the administration, which is struggling to extend its influence beyond the capital.