MOGADISHU, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Ethiopian troops supporting Somalia’s Western-backed government quit their main bases in Mogadishu on Tuesday, witnesses said, heralding the start of an uncertain new chapter for the anarchic capital.

Many residents were overjoyed by the departure of soldiers they saw as occupiers, even though some analysts fear it will leave a power vacuum and trigger more violence by Islamist rebels who have been battling the government and each other.

“We were chanting praise be to Allah, who made the troops leave our area,” local man Hussein Awale told Reuters as hundreds of people gathered at one military facility in the north of the city that was abandoned overnight.

Insurgents have been fighting the interim government and Ethiopian forces for two years, since Addis Ababa sent soldiers to help drive a sharia courts group out of Mogadishu.

More than 16,000 civilians have been killed and one million have been forced from their homes. But frustrated by rifts in the Somali administration, and the cost of the operation, Ethiopia has decided to withdraw its estimated 3,000 troops.

Ethiopian commanders could not be reached for comment on their latest moves. But an Islamist opposition spokesman said he was told all Ethiopian soldiers would leave the city on Tuesday.

“Ethiopian troops have left their strategic main bases in Mogadishu and the others will withdraw today,” said Suleiman Olad Roble of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia.