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NAIROBI (Reuters) - African peacekeepers can drive out al Shabaab Islamist militants from remaining pockets in Mogadishu and gain control of the entire Somali capital within six months if troop levels are boosted by a third to 12,000, the force commander said on Friday.

The rebels withdrew from most of their bases in Mogadishu in August, but retained control in two city districts. A suicide bombing on Monday, which killed more than 70 people, showed the militants were still capable of launching major attacks in the lawless Horn of Africa nation.

Critics have said AMISOM peacekeeping force and government troops failed to capitalise on the militants' retreat, unable to push them out completely and quash an insurgency that has killed more than 20,000 people since 2007.

There are now some 9,000 Burundian and Ugandan troops within Mogadishu, but AMISOM's mandate allows for a maximum of 12,000 troops. Sierra Leone and Djibouti have expressed an interest in contributing to the force.

"The number of 12,000 for Phase 1, which is Mogadishu and the surrounding township, was very minimum, it was the most conservative number. But unfortunately we don't have them yet," Major General Fred Mugisha told Reuters in Nairobi.

"We have 9,000 plus, not yet even 10,000, so if we got the balance we would be able to control Mogadishu. I wish I could get the numbers I want, I would do it in probably six months."

Sustained pressure by government and African Union troops on al Shabaab, who were meanwhile suffering from a shortage of funds and rifts among their ranks, forced the rebels to abandon their front lines Mogadishu.

But regional officials warned the conflict was by no means over and that the militants, who had vowed to strike again even after they withdrew, would launch al Qaeda-style suicide bombing attacks.

SHIFTING TACTICS

Mugisha said AMISOM would shift its tactics accordingly in an effort to prevent a repeat of Tuesday's bombing, which was the group's most deadly attack in the country in four years.

"... We are putting the measures, as I said, sensitise the public (and) mount checkpoints," Mugisha said.

"One or two incidents I'm afraid will continue to happen. You have no training of security forces, no functioning police ... So we are trying to see how much we can organise the society ... to take precautions against terror attacks."

Mugisha said AMISOM would "in the near future" launch an operation to capture the remaining 5 percent the militants' control in Mogadishu.

"Every single day al-Shabaab militants and al Qaeda try to launch offensives to recapture the areas we control," he said.

"It would be counterproductive if we don't push them out of those buildings completely so that we secure (not only) the civilians, but also our own soldiers. As a result of that, yes we'll carry out at an attack," Mugisha said.

Although the rebels managed to strike at the heart of the capital in a compound housing several government ministries, Mugisha insisted the militants were fighting a losing battle.

"Even when you look at the recent terror attack in Mogadishu, this is just to tell the world that 'We are still existing, we are still capable of killing innocent people'."

"But as I said any serious group that is looking at capturing state power and ruling the country cannot do what they did. They are on the losing side," he said.