Heavy casualties in southern Somalia

Nairobi - The Kenyan army said on Tuesday it had bombarded Islamist insurgents in southern Somalia, where weekend clashes left scores of rebels and Somali government soldiers dead.

Kenyan jets on Monday bombed two extremist Shebab rebel camps “south of Afmadow town killing a number of Al Shebab fighters” and destroying vehicles, the army said in a statement.

Kenyan army spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir also said that more than 40 Shebab gunmen and 11 Somali government forces were killed over the weekend during fierce battles in the the southern Hayo region.

Chirchir said that 54 government troops were injured in the battle on Saturday, with 25 of them airlifted to Kenya for treatment.

No Kenyan forces were involved in the weekend fighting, he said.

There was no immediate Somali confirmation of the weekend death toll.

Meanwhile Kenya's cabinet approved on Tuesday for its troops to join the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM), a 9 700-strong force made up of Ugandan and Burundian troops based in Mogadishu.

“The cabinet approved the re-hatting of the Kenya Defence Forces in Somalia to AMISOM, subject to approval by parliament,” a statement from the Kenyan presidency said.

“This has been done at the request of the African Union to enhance a combined strategy for the operation against Al-Shebab,” the statement added.

Nairobi sent troops and tanks into Somalia in October to fight the insurgents it accuses of a series of attacks on its soil, including the abduction of four foreign women.

They have been accompanied by forces allied to Somalia's provisional government in some of their operations.

Last week the AU Peace and Security Council formally asked Kenya to join the AMISOM force. - Sapa-AFP