Somalia’s Shebab rebels warned Ethiopia yesterday they would “break the necks” of its troops, a day after reports that Addis Ababa sent hundreds of soldiers into the war-torn country.

“Soldiers of our enemy, the black colonialists of Ethiopia, made some movements into our region on Saturday, but they do not scare us,” said Sheikh Yusuf Ali Ugas, the insurgent group’s commander for the Hiran region.

“We will break the necks of the invaders ... Our troops are ready for anything, if the Ethiopian enemy tries to attack us,” Sheikh Ugas added, speaking on the Al-Qaeda-linked group’s radio Al Andalus.

Convoys of Ethiopian troops in lorries and armoured vehicles entered southern and central Somali regions, local elders said Saturday, although Addis Ababa has denied all reports.

Hardline Shebab insurgents control much of southern Somalia, but are also battling both the Western-backed government in Mogadishu and Kenyan troops in the far south, who crossed the border last month to attack rebel strongholds.

Kenya said yesterday that its “jets supported by naval fire” had destroyed two Shebab bases in the southern Lower Juba region, army spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said in a statement.

Shebab fighters said they had destroyed a Kenyan navy boat at Madhawa island, south of the rebel-held port of Kismayo early yesterday morning, but Major Chirchir dismissed the reports, claiming no “warship was sunk or engaged”.

The extremist insurgents also claimed yesterday they had ambushed Kenyan forces between the villages of Taabto and Dobley.

“We have ambushed the Kenyan Christian invaders... the mujahideen fighters destroyed one armoured vehicle and killed dozens of the enemy,” Sheikh Ibrahim Mohamed, Shebab commander for Kismayo, said.