At least 40 people were killed and scores wounded when three car bombs exploded in an apparently coordinated attack in the Iraqi city of Amara today.

The bombs exploded in a car park and a market place, according to sources at a hospital in Amara, the capital of Maysan province, which until recently was under British security control. As well as the dead the hospital said it had received 100 wounded.

Lieutenant Ali Kadhim Hassan said the first device detonated at 10:30 am (0730 GMT) followed by the other two. One witness said the bomb in the car park exploded first.

Iraq’s Furat Television said that two men suspected of involvement in the blasts had been detained.

A spokesman for the British military, which handed over responsibility for security in the province to Iraqi authorities in April, confirmed one bomb blast in a city market, but could not offer further comment.

While southern Iraq has largely escaped much of the sectarian violence that has plagued Baghdad and other parts of the country, tensions have nevertheless been high as rival factions battle for influence as British forces draw down.

Britain is expected to hand over control of security in neighbouring Basra province to Iraqi forces next week. That will bring to an end Britain’s responsibility for security in the four southern provinces it has controlled since the March 2003 invasion.

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