Confirming the incident, Baidoa police boss Adan Ahmed Omar said they arrested seven people suspected of creating insecurity in the area following an operation in Mursal, Isha and Suqa-hoolaha neighbourhoods.

He said the suspects are now being questioned and will be dealt with accordingly if they are proved to be a threat to the security of city once the current investigations are over.

Omar promised that they will defeat people he said were threatening the prevailing semblance of law and order in the city after wresting control of it from Al-Shabaab militants last month.

On February 22, Ethiopian and Somali troops took control of Baidoa town after Al-Shabaab fighters pulled out of the town, allowing Somali and Ethiopian forces to seize the town on without a battle.

Baidoa is a business route for most commodities that are transported from Mogadishu to other towns in the region. It also has an airport, which the rebel group is thought to have used to bring in weapons.