BAGHDAD , Iraq ( CNN ) -- All vehicles were banned from the largely Shiite city of Amara Wednesday after three car bombs ripped through a market district , killing at least 27 people and wounded 151 , officials said . Iraqis gather at the site of a car bomb in the city of Amara on Wednesday . The blasts detonated in close succession in a commercial area in the central section of Amara , the provincial capital of Maysan province and a city that has been the scene of fighting between rival Shiite factions . Baghdad was also hit by violence on Wednesday . A car bomb there killed five Iraqi civilians and wounded 15 others , an Interior Ministry official told CNN . The incident occurred in a Christian section of the largely Shiite New Baghdad district . Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf , head of the Interior Ministry 's National Command Center , confirmed the casualty figures in the Amara bombing . He and a committee were headed to Amara to investigate the incident . He said the ministry fired the city 's police chief in the aftermath of the attack . Maysan Gov . Adil Muhawdar Radhi announced the vehicle ban , which he said will be in place through Thursday . He said additional security measures have been put in place in the city . The first bomb , in a car parked in a commercial area , detonated about 9:30 a.m. As onlookers gathered , the second one exploded in a nearby garage a few minutes later . It was followed by a third bomb in the garage a few minutes after that . Ambulances and police raced to the scene . News footage showed burning vehicles and black smoke , and the clothing of victims scattered beside pools of blood . Iraqi state television showed hospitals packed with people . Al-Forat , an Iraqi TV station affiliated with the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq political movement , reported that most of the casualties were women and children . Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki , in a statement , denounced the attack . `` The targeting of unarmed civilians today in the markets of Amara town by car bombs -- that is another ring in the chain of conspiracy against the Iraqi people that is aiming to destabilize the security and stability in this province , '' which he said endured cruelty under the Saddam Hussein regime . Maysan , which borders Iran , has been under Iraqi security control much of this year after control was transferred from the British military . It was not immediately known who was responsible for the blasts , but the violence is a reminder of the intense fighting between the Mehdi Army -- the militia of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr -- and the Badr Brigade , the militia of the SICI , which condemned the bombings and blamed `` Saddamists and Takfiris . '' The two movements are bitter rivals and have been in the middle of local power struggles in Iraq 's southern provinces and other Shiite areas . Watch how Shiite groups have been vying for power » . Britain , which has been in command of the south since the Iraqi war began , has been working to withdraw its troops from the region , which , despite this latest violence , has always been more stable than Baghdad and other outlying regions . Britain 's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that the British military will transfer security control of the southern province of Basra to Iraqi forces on Sunday . Ali al-Dabbagh , Iraq 's government spokesman , confirmed the date and said the Maysan attacks will not affect the handover . E-mail to a friend . CNN 's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report .
NEW : All vehicles stopped in city of Amara through Thursday , provincial governor says . Death toll continues to rise as Interior Ministry reports 151 wounded . State television reports that many of the casualties are women , children . It has been scene of fighting between rival Shiite factions vying for power .