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NAIROBI (Reuters) - Somali government troops are ready to launch a major offensive against insurgents and expect to drive them out of the capital by the end of this month, the country's prime minister told Reuters on Sunday.

Talk of an imminent government attack on the rebels has been rife in recent weeks and al Shabaab, the main insurgent group, is reported to have stepped up the forced recruitment of youths into its ranks in readiness for the assault.

"Our troops are prepared to act, and flush these terrorists out of the capital before the end of January, and continue taking over the control of more territories from these fighters," said Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke.

Somalia has had no effective central government since 1991. The West's efforts to install one have been undermined most recently by the insurgency led by al Shabaab, which Washington views as al Qaeda's proxy in the region.

Sharmarke said the government's preparations centred on recruiting and training the troops and reforming the command structure.

"We could not go to war overnight, but we put most of our efforts into preparing our forces to act, so that the work can yield some results at the end of the day," he said.

U.S.-led military action in Afghanistan and Iraq is piling pressure on al Qaeda groups there, raising Somalia's appeal as a safe haven for the militants, the prime minister said.