The death toll from recent twin bomb attacks in the central Somali town of Baidabo has reached 20 people, including two journalists.

On Friday afternoon, an assailant blew himself up at a packed cafeteria followed by another car bomb attack in a nearby area.

The second explosion caused most of the casualties, according to local police official Abdirasak Ali.

Forty people have also been wounded. Some of the injured who were in critical condition have been flown to the capital Mogadishu for treatment, health officials say.

The al-Shabab Takfiri militants have claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the cafeteria had been a stomping ground for government supporters.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud condemned the "cruel, barbaric and evil actions from al-Shabab against innocent people."

Somalia has been the scene of clashes between government forces and al-Shabab militants since 2006.

The militants have been pushed out of the Somali capital and other major cities in the country by government forces and the African Union Mission in Somalia which is made up of troops from Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, Sierra Leone, and Kenya.