The United States has sent a handful of military advisers to Somalia in recent months to help bolster an African Union force fighting extremist militants there.

The United States has sent a handful of military advisers to Somalia in recent months to help bolster an African Union force fighting extremist militants there, officials said Friday.

The deployment marks the first stationing of US troops in the troubled country since 1993, when two Blackhawk helicopters were shot down and 18 Americans were killed in a disastrous operation.

The establishment is to increase the capabilities of Somali forces and promote peace and security throughout Somalia and the region, US Africa Command spokesman Colonel Tom Davis said in a statement.

The troops will be based at Mogadishu airport, working alongside the AU mission to confront resurgent extremist militants, the official said, confirming the previously undisclosed deployment.

The African Union mission supports Somali government forces, which have rolled back Shebab fighters out of key cities over the past 18 months.

The Pentagon has provided cargo aircraft and intelligence to French forces battling extremists in Mali and uses airfields in Djibouti, Ethiopia and elsewhere to fly US drone aircraft.

The UN Security Council in November approved an increase of 4,400 troops to the African Union mission in Somalia, expanding it from 17,700 to more than 22,100.