They will each have a hand and a leg cut off after being convicted by a Sharia court in the capital, Mogadishu.

The al-Shabab group has carried out amputations, floggings and an execution in the port of Kismayo but such punishments are rare in the capital.

Al-Shabab and its allies control much of southern Somalia and are battling the UN-backed government.

Hundreds of residents attended the hearing in north Mogadishu.

Armed al-Shabab militants were on guard, while the accused were chained around their ankles.