TIMELINE: Ethiopia pulls out from Somali capital

(Reuters) - Ethiopian troops supporting Somalia's Western-backed government quit their main bases in Mogadishu on Tuesday, witnesses said.

Here is a timeline of events since Islamists first seized the capital, Mogadishu:

June 2006 - The Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) seizes Mogadishu from U.S.-backed warlords and takes control of parts of southern Somalia.

December 28 - Islamists flee Mogadishu ahead of a joint Ethiopian and Somali government force which captures the city.

January 8, 2007 - Yusuf arrives in Mogadishu for the first time since he became president in 2004.

August 30 - Yusuf winds up a six-week-long peace conference, which has no visible impact on growing insurgency. Islamists and some other opposition figures boycott the talks.

May 1, 2008 - U.S. air strike kills al Shabaab leader Aden Hashi Ayro.

August 18 - Somalia formally signs a peace deal with some opposition figures, but the pact is rejected by hardliners.

August 22 - Al Shabaab insurgents seize Kismayu, a strategic southern port, after fighting that killed 70 people.

August 25 - The U.N.'s Food Security Analysis Unit says more than 3.2 million people need humanitarian aid.

November 14 - Al Shabaab fighters move into Elasha town near Sinkadheer, where Ethiopian troops are based. Sinkadheer is 15 km (9 miles) southwest of Mogadishu.

-- President Yusuf admits Islamist insurgents control most of the country raising the prospect his government could completely collapse.

December 10 - Somalia's moderate Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed returns to Mogadishu for the first time in two years. A local rights group says 16,210 civilians have been killed in fighting since then.

December 11 - Ethiopian Prime Minister Zenawi says that African Union peacekeepers have asked Ethiopian troops planning to leave the country to help them quit Mogadishu too.

December 14 - Yusuf sacks Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein, saying the government has failed to extend security to the nation. The next day parliament votes to reinstate him.

December 16 - Yusuf names former interior minister Mohamed Mohamud Guled as prime minister, snubbing parliament. He resigns on December 24, saying he did not want to be an obstacle to peace.