A conference that brings together Somali clerics from overseas and the regions of the country started on Monday in Mogadishu.

Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has opened the forum, which will run for three days in the capital under tight security as high-profile officials are in attendance.

In his opening speech, Mohamud urged the participants to form a council that advises the government on religious affairs and the ideological war against Al-Shabaab.

The president said his government is fighting Al-Shabaab - militarily, financially, and ideologically and this war, he added the government wants to be the end of the group.

The clerics' meeting comes on the heels of a complex Al-Shabaab siege at the office of the mayor of Mogadishu on Sunday which killed at least six people.

The militants stormed Benadir regional HQs after a bomb explosion at the gate that allowed 5 gunmen to gain access to the building, where they fought off the police for six hours.

President Hassan Sheikh, who assumed office last year is credited for the fight against Al-Shabaab and his commitment to liberate the entire country at any cost.