A few hundred others, who managed to flee before the fighting erupted, started returning. (Reuters)

JOWHAR, Somalia — US-backed Somalia warlords fled the country after their last stronghold of Jowhar fell Wednesday, June 14, to fighters loyal to Somalia's influential Islamic courts, cementing their victory after more than four months of fighting.

"The town of Jowhar has fallen into the hands of the Islamic courts after a heavy battle," resident Abdi Haji Ahmed told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"Islamic fighters' battlewagons are parked in front of the police station in Jowhar. Nobody is fighting against them and they are now in full control," added Ahmed Sheikh Mohamud, another resident.

Columns of heavily-armed fighters aboard pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns patrolled the town about 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu.

Hundreds of additional fighters poured into the town moments after the warlords' troops fled to the outskirts of Jowhar, an AFP correspondent witnessed.

The Islamic courts on Monday, June 5, declared victory over the US-backed warlord Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT).

Warlords have controlled Mogadishu since the 1991 overthrow of president Mohamed Siad Barre.

The African country has lacked almost all the trappings of a functional state, such as national systems of education, healthcare and justice.

New Administration

"We have captured Jowhar and we are now planning to establish a new administration and establish Shari`ah courts as soon as possible," commander Sheikh Hassan Dir said.

Thousands of residents, who were trapped inside the town as fighting raged, started emerging from their homes to assess the damage.

A few hundred others, who managed to flee before the fighting erupted, started returning.

Residents said the Islamic Courts fighters, now controlling a large portion of Mogadishu, had been well prepared for seizing Jowhar from warlord Mohammed Dheere.

Dheere was reportedly in Ethiopia as his foes took control of Jowhar, the well-developed capital of Middle Shabbelle region which is home to United Nations and numerous other international agencies working in the shattered African nation.

Warlords on Run

Several other warlords had already fled Tuesday night ahead of the fighting.

Mohamed Afrah Qanyare and Issa Botan Alin -- who were evicted from the capital early this month -- and a little-known local chieftain, Abdu Nure Said, left Jowhar and headed further north to Qanyare's hometown of El Bur in the central Somali region of Galgudud.

It was not clear whether they had arrived at their destination.

Of all the Somali warlords, Qanyare was regarded as the most powerful, but his large stockpiles of military hardware failed to deter the Islamic courts.

Another warlord, Abdi Hassan Awale Qeydid, quit the ARPCT on Tuesday night, dealing a fatal blow to the coalition.

On Tuesday, east African countries imposed travel bans and froze bank accounts of the warlords and recommended they be prosecuted for crimes against humanity at an international tribunal.

It was not clear Wednesday whether the warlords had accepted ultimate defeat or would regroup and attempt to reclaim their territories.

Jowhar, once a temporary seat of the Somali transitional government, fell a day before members of the new Somalia Contact Group formed by the US prepared to meet at UN headquarters to discuss the future of Somalia.

The warlord alliance was created in February with US support in a bid to curb the growing influence of the Islamic courts.

The interim government has accused the US of fanning the flames of civil war by backing the warlords, not only financially but also militarily.

In 1994, US troops hastily left Somalia after a catastrophic intervention in the country left 18 American soldiers killed.

US government officials and experts have told the New York Times on Thursday, June 7, that CIA funding for the warlords has backfired and helped empower the Islamic courts.