South Africa will not be sending troops to Somalia, but is continuing to asses what type of assistance it can offer the North African country.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad told BuaNews today that South Africa would not be sending any soldiers to Somalia as its peacekeeping force was stretched in other missions on the continent.

These include deployments in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Burundi and Sudan's Darfur region.

The deputy minister told reporters at the Union Buildings today that Nigeria was preparing to send hundreds of its troops to Somalia for possible participation in an African peace-keeping force.

According to Mr Pahad, spokesperson for the Nigerian army, Colonel Ayo Olaniyan said a battalion was being prepared in the event that they were asked to contribute troops.

A battalion is an infantry unit commanded by a lieutenant colonel and consists of approximately 1 000 troops.

In addition, Mozambique was reconsidering whether it would contribute troops to peacekeeping forces deployed in Sudan and Somalia.

"Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota is still consulting with relevant departments to determine what other assistance we can provide to the African Union peace-keeping force in Somalia.

"He will then make recommendation to President Thabo Mbeki," said the deputy minister.

Regarding Sudan, Mr Pahad said last week rebel commanders in northern Darfur reported that government aircraft had hit three villages in the preceding weekend.

Mr Pahad said Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in an exclusive BBC interview had confirmed his troops carried out the bombardments.

"He said the government had no option but to strike as 80 percent of attacks on civilians in the region were carried out by rebel groups, undermining security," said Mr Pahad.

He said President Bashir also told the BBC that after signing the peace agreement with a leading rebel group in May 2006, rival rebels formed a new alliance called the National Salvation Front.

President Bashir said the group had received "massive military support in full view of the international community" and set out to target those who had signed the peace deal.

Militias have since carried out large-scale attacks on Sudan Liberation Movement positions in northern Darfur, controlling its movements, the Sudanese president said.

"We heard no condemnation of this movement or the countries supporting it. But as soon as we were forced to send armed troops to deal with it we heard talk of violations and a ceasefire breach," he told the BBC.

Sudan has witnessed fighting between rebels and the government, which has reportedly claimed more than 200 000 lives and displaced more than 2 million people since 2003.