East African foreign ministers have met in the Somali capital city of Mogadishu to discuss ways to end deadly clashes in Somalia.

On Saturday, the foreign ministers of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda attended a one-day meeting in Mogadishu.

The meeting was called by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in an attempt to restore peace and stability to war-wracked Somalia.

"The agenda of the meeting includes security, political reconciliation and other key issues," said Daud Aweys, spokesman of Somali presidential palace.

Meanwhile, hundreds of police forces patrolled the streets of the Somali capital to ensure the security of the high-profile meeting.

The summit comes after Somali parliament endorsed Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke as prime minster last December, following severe infighting between President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud and former premier, Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed.

The United Nations, United States, and European Union have all expressed concern over the power struggle in Somalia.

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

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