Residents in southern Somalia say an unidentified fighter jet has bombed a rebel-held village, killing at least one person.

The warplane hit the al-Shabab-controlled village of Yaqle on Tuesday. It is located in Somalia's Gedo region near the Kenya border.

Kenyan forces entered southern Somalia in October to hunt for al-Shabab militants, and since then they have sporadically launched airstrikes on militant targets.

Kenya has blamed the Islamist insurgents for a string of kidnappings of foreigners on Kenyan soil.

On Sunday, witnesses reported seeing Ethiopian troops cross the border into Somalia. Somali Defense Minister Hussein Araba Issa said the troops will work alongside Somali government forces.

The Ethiopian government has denied sending troops into Somalia.

In recent months, Somali troops backed by African Union forces forced al-Shabab from the capital, Mogadishu. But al-Shabab still controls large sections of southern and central Somalia.

The al-Qaida-linked militant group has been fighting since 2008 to topple Somalia's weak central government.