BAGHDAD -- British and Australian forces handed over security duties for a relatively peaceful southern province to Iraqis yesterday in the first such transfer of an entire province. At least 19 people, however, were killed in attacks countrywide, illustrating the security challenge Iraq still faces.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki hailed the security transfer in Muthanna province as an important step toward the goal of full Iraqi responsibility for all 18 provinces by the end of next year.

"It is a great national day that will be registered in the history of Iraq," al-Maliki said during a handover ceremony in the provincial capital of Samawah.

Sectarian violence continued to escalate, with a bicycle bomb striking the headquarters of a village council near Baqouba, 55 km northeast of Baghdad. The bodies of four council members were found in the rubble.

Gunmen also killed a member of a provincial council in Diwaniyah, some 130 km south of Baghdad, officials said.

Meanwhile, purported Shiite militiamen drove the streets of the western Baghdad neighbourhood of Ghazaliyah and called on Sunnis to leave. Clashes broke out after police arrived, supported by U.S. forces in the air, with one policeman killed and two injured, Capt. Jamil Hussein said.

Also in Baghdad, gunmen killed the coach of Iraq's national wrestling team in a botched abduction attempt, but a team member escaped, police said.

The attackers grabbed the coach, Mohammed Karim Abid Sahib, and one of his wrestlers as they left the sports centre in the northern neighbourhood of Kazamiyah, where the team was preparing to leave tomorrow for a tournament.

Both men tried to flee, but Sahib was shot to death during the attempt, police Capt. Mohammed al-Waili said. The player escaped.