A Somali police official says a roadside bomb in a remote town in Somalia's semiautonomous state of Puntland has killed eight soldiers and injured three others.

Ahmed Mohamed tells The Associated Press that Sunday's blast targeted a military convoy in Galgala. Security forces have been battling Islamic State-linked fighters in the region.

The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group claimed responsibility for the blast. IS-linked extremists also have carried out such attacks in the past.

Fighters affiliated with the Islamic State are a relatively new and growing threat in Somalia, where al-Shabab has been entrenched for years.