Militant Islamists have attacked a Somali military base and police station near the border with Kenya, killing eight soldiers, an official has said.

The al-Shabab militants rammed the base in Beled Hawa town with an explosives-packed vehicle, and then stormed it on foot, Mohamud Hayd Osman added.

Al-Shabab said it had killed 30 soldiers in the hit-and-run attack. It has carried out a spate of attacks in Somalia and Kenya since launching an insurgency more than a decade ago.

The African Union has an 18,000-strong force helping the UN-backed Somali government tackle the militants.

The assault on Beled Hawa also left dozens of civilians wounded.

The militants also blew up the police station and a phone mast, before retreating, Mr Osman added.

The assault shows that al-Shabab remains a dangerous force, despite losing territory to the AU force and some of its top commanders being killed in US air strikes.

In January, al-Shabab said it had killed 50 Kenyan soldiers in an assault on their base in Kolbiyow town in southern Somalia. Kenyan troops are part of the AU force in Somalia.