French naval forces patrolling the north of the Indian Ocean have seized a shipment of weapons they say was heading towards Somalia.

The weapons included hundreds of assault rifles, machine guns and anti-tank weapons.

This comes just weeks after the Australian navy intercepted a cache of arms also being shipped towards Somalia.

The ship was spotted by a French surveillance helicopter which is part of the multinational force that patrols the Indian Ocean.

The French forces seized the weapons under a UN embargo to prevent arms from getting to Somalia-based Islamist militants al-Shabab.

The naval coalition has hailed this discovery as a success although it has not revealed any information about those transporting the weapons.