An Islamic militia said Monday it has seized Somalia's capital after weeks of some of the bloodiest fighting in 15 years of anarchy in this Horn of Africa nation.

Members of a Somali Islamic Court militia examine captured weapons in Bal'ad area after clashes with a self-styled anti-terrorism coalition of warlords June 4, 2006. [Reuters]

Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, chairman of the Islamic Courts Union, said his forces have fought off a secular alliance of warlords who have been trying to retain their grip on Somalia. The militia appeared in control of the capital, which was calm Monday.

"We want to restore peace and stability to Mogadishu. We are ready to meet and talk to anybody and any group for the interest of the people," Ahmed said on a radio broadcast.

Attempts to reach the alliance were not immediately successful; most leaders appeared to have fled the city by Monday afternoon.

The Islamic militias have made steady gains in recent days, seizing the alliance base of Balad on Sunday and enlisting former alliance commanders. Their growing power is raising fears that the nation could fall under the sway of al-Qaida, like Afghanistan did under the Taliban.

The recent surge in violence started last month, killing more than 300 people and wounding 1,700, many of them civilians caught in the crossfire. The fundamentalists accuse their rivals of working for the CIA, while the alliance says the militias have links to al-Qaida.

The United States is widely believed to be backing the alliance but American officials have refused to confirm or deny that, saying only that they will support those who fight terrorism. The United States has carried out no direct military action in Somalia since a 1993 intervention resulted in the deaths of 18 servicemen.

Somalia has had no effective government since warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. They then turned on each other, carving this impoverished nation of an estimated 8 million people into rival fiefdoms.

A U.N.-backed interim government has failed to assert control from its base in Baidoa, 155 miles from Mogadishu.