African Union troops in central Somalia have recovered over 500 bags of relief food that had been stolen by the Somali insurgent group al-Shabab.

The AU says the food, which was meant to help feed drought-stricken Somali families, was instead being used to feed al-Shabab militants at a training camp outside Mogadishu.

The African Union Mission for Somalia (AMISOM) says it captured the village, known as Lanta-Buro, this week in what could be a major setback for the Islamist militant group.

AMISOM says it also recovered a cache of machine guns and bomb-making equipment during the raid, which left 11 al-Shabab fighters dead and four others captured.

The al-Qaida-linked Al-Shabab once controlled much of Somalia and nearly all of Mogadishu. But it has lost most of its territory during an 19-month offensive involving African Union forces, the Somali government, Ethiopia and Kenya.

Al-Shabab is fighting to overthrow Somalia's transitional government and impose a strict form of Islamic law.