Somalia beefs up security ahead of IGAD summit

Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. 

Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said Saturday security has been beefed up in Mogadishu and its environs ahead of the regional summit to be held on Sept. 13.

Mohamud said leaders from the eight members of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) bloc - Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda - are expected to attend the summit. The summit is expected to focus on political and security progress made in Somalia and the forthcoming in-direct elections planed for September and October. The summit will also focus on ways to bring an end to the conflict in South Sudan.