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Bombing crowded markets and killing innocent civilians show that al-Shabaab is weak and desperate, Somali officials and analysts say.

The al-Qaeda allied group claimed responsibility for the bloody attack on Monday (April 9th) that targeted a popular vegetable market in Baidoa which killed at least 12 people, and injured more than 30. Most of the victims were women and children.

"Bombing crowded markets is a new phenomenon in Somalia," said Ahmed Ibrahim, a security analyst and retired officer in the Somali army. "The fact that armed groups are resorting to bombing markets and killing innocent civilians, including women and children, is a sign that these militants are unable to confront the national armed forces."

"These terrorist groups have shown no mercy to the Somali people," he told Sabahi. "Why do they target civilians in crowded markets? Does the jihad they claim include planting bombs and explosive devices throughout local markets and crowded areas so as to spill more Somali blood?"

"It is unfathomable that markets are bombed under the pretext of targeting one soldier amidst hundreds of shoppers. Only murderers and anti-peace groups would do such a thing," he said. "Due to military pressure on al-Shabaab from forces allied with the Somali government, such as AMISOM and allied troops from neighbouring countries that support the transitional government, [these] radicals are trying to increase random terrorist attacks against innocent civilians."

Isaac Hassan, a 38-year-old shop owner at the Baidoa market, said, "The stupid extremists kill innocent civilians, including women and children, in the name of our religion. They are criminals and this is their only way to spill blood."

Baidoa Governor Abdifatah Mohammed Gesey told Sabahi that a suspect has been arrested.

"Terrorists have been committing heinous crimes against the Somali people by targeting markets and crowded places to kill as many innocent civilians as possible," he said.

Monday's attack was the bloodiest since the allied forces expelled al-Shabaab from the city in February. The strategic city of Baidoa, 250 kilometres west of Mogadishu, had been an al-Shabaab stronghold for four years.

In its first deployment outside Mogadishu, AMISOM sent 100 Burundian and Ugandan soldiers to the city as a vanguard unit for a 2,500-strong force that will eventually replace Ethiopian troops in the region.

Gesey said that the government seeks to liberate the rest of the region's cities from the grip of the al-Qaeda-linked group.

Targeting markets 'cowardly act'

Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed condemned the attack that took place at the Baidoa market.

"Al-Shabaab's random terrorist attacks that targeted the National Theatre last week, as well as at the local market in the city of Baidoa on Monday, prove that al-Shabaab and al-Qaeda are at their end," he said after a meeting with security officials and leaders of AMISOM to discuss the security developments in the country.

He said the Somali government will employ tight security measures to protect civilians and prevent terrorist attacks as allied forces drive al-Shabaab out of Somalia.

Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali also strongly condemned the bombing in Baidoa.

"Time and again, terrorists have spilt the blood of innocent Somalis. The targeting of unarmed civilians is a cowardly act, which we condemn with the strongest possible language," he said in a statement.

"The atrocious and cowardly crimes committed by al-Shabaab and the targeting of innocent civilians are contradictory with Islam and Somali culture," Ali said. "It was an ugly, criminal, brutal and inhumane attack."

Ali added, "After the terrorist groups were defeated during direct confrontations with the national armed forces, they have resorted to bombing markets and crowded areas to kill as many innocent civilians as possible."

Ali said the elimination of al-Shabaab from the country is simply a matter of time. "The Transitional Federal Government is committed to purging the country of this group. These terrorist attacks against innocent civilians only strengthen our resolve to conquer these terrorist groups," he said.

Speaker of Parliament Sheikh Sharif Hassan Aadan, who is in Baidoa, also said eradicating al-Shabaab from the country is only a matter of time. "The existence of al-Shabaab in Somalia constitutes a regional dilemma as well as a security threat for Somalia and all East African countries, which is why it is important to cleanse the country of terrorists as soon as possible," he said.