The Islamic State is claiming responsibility for Tuesday's vehicle attack in New York that killed eight people and injured a dozen others. 

The extremist group did not provide evidence of its involvement in the attack but in a weekly issue of its Al-Naba newspaper, it claims that "the attacker is one of the caliphate's soldiers."

Sayfullo Saipov, 29, was shot by police but survived the attack in which police say he drove a rented truck through a group of pedestrians and cyclists in Manhattan. Authorities in New York say they found a note near the scene that was written in Arabic and expressed affinity for the Islamic State.

Saipov, a native of Uzbekistan and a legal resident of the US, was charged Wednesday in federal court with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organisation.