Forces loyal to an ousted governor of Somalia's South West State launched another attack on a key city on Thursday but were repelled, according to the federal government and residents.

The fighting began around 4:00 am (01:00 GMT) on Thursday and lasted for several hours, with no immediate casualty figures available.

In March, the government sent in troops to oust the head of South West State, Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen.

He launched a failed attempt to retake the state in May, and in August his forces clashed with federal troops over control of the major city of Baidoa.

Government in control

Somalia's Ministry of Defence accused Laftagareen's forces of having allied themselves with Al-Shabaab terrorists to attack the city.

"Somali Armed Forces defeated militias loyal to Abdiaziz Laftagareen and Al-Shabaab militants who had joined forces to attack Baidoa," the ministry said in a statement.

They also claimed federal troops had "inflicted heavy losses on the attacking militias".

A spokesperson for the pro-Laftagareen forces said they had captured parts of the city and that fighting was continuing.

However, several residents told AFP that Baidoa was now calm after six hours of clashes.

"The fighting was intense this morning," said resident Hassan Mumin, who told AFP that forces loyal to Laftagareen had entered parts of the city before withdrawing, with the government now in control.

"I saw the bodies of two fighters," he added.

Resident Mahdi Mohamed said while some areas remained calm, clashes in parts of the city reached by pro-Laftagareen forces were intense.