Ethiopian and Somali government forces have captured a key town in southwestern Somalia from militant group al-Shabab.

Witnesses tell VOA that troops took control of Baidoa without a fight Wednesday, after al-Shabab fighters withdrew from the town.

The town was once the home of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, until al-Shabab took control of it in 2009.

Ethiopia, along with Kenya and the African Union, is assisting the Somali government in its fight against al-Shabab. The militant group, which is allied with al-Qaida, has tried to overthrow the government since 2007 and turn Somalia into a strict Islamic state.

The group still controls parts of southern and central Somalia, but has been pushed out of the capital, Mogadishu, the central city of Beledweyne, and other areas.

Ethiopian and Somali government troops began driving toward Baidoa on Sunday, and a Somali government official had predicted the town would be “liberated” by Friday prayers.

The capture comes one day before an one-day international conference on Somalia's future in London. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is among the officials set to attend.