MOGADISHU, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Somali Islamist fighters on Sunday peacefully seized control of Bardere town in the southwestern Somali region of Gedo, local media reports said.

    "Forces of the Union of Islamic Courts took over Bardere district in Gedo region," Shabelle radio reported. "Commanders of the heavily armed fighters said they want to rid the country of the occupying forces of Ethiopia."

    The fighters reportedly faced no resistance from the small police force in the town as they came in with their battle wagons.

    Insurgent fighters have been waging A guerilla war against Somali government forces and the Ethiopian troops backing them, since joint forces from Somali and Ethiopia ousted an Islamist administration from south and central Somalia late in 2006.

    The fighters of the Islamist movement have seized a number of towns and villages in south and central Somalia but withdrew many of them hours after taking over from Somali government forces and Ethiopian troops.

    Reports from the town said that the Islamist forces have disbanded the local police and administration after taking control, a move opposed by a member of the local elders.

    "I do not know from whom they captured the town and who they captured it for," said Elder Arabey Hassan in Bardere. "There are no Somali government forces or Ethiopian troops. The police in the town are local police formed by the community here."

    The fighters said they will hold meetings with local elders to consult with them about forming "clean local police force". They accused the local administration and the police of harassing people and taking people's personal properties.

    "We belong to the town and we came here to make good for the people," said Sheik Mohamed Osman, an Islamist commander in Bardere.

    Somalia has been without a strong central government since the overthrow of the late Somali ruler Mohamed Siyad Barre in 1991.