(Updates with more background)

BAGHDAD, April 19 (Reuters) - A roadside bomb killed two British soldiers in the southern Iraqi province of Maysan on Thursday, the British military said, a day after British forces handed over the region to Iraqi security control.

British military spokesman Major David Gell said three soldiers had also been wounded in the blast northwest of Amara, the capital of Maysan.

The deaths brought to 144 the number of British soldiers killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. April has been a particularly bloody month for British forces, with 10 soldiers killed so far.

British troops largely pulled out from their heavily mortared base in Amara last year, turning it over to Iraqi security forces and repositioning themselves along the border with Iran.

At a ceremony in Amara on Wednesday, British military commander Major-General Jonathan Shaw formally handed over security control to Iraqi forces. It was the fourth Iraqi province to be transferred by the coalition forces.

Shaw said British forces would continue to patrol the border and would be on hand to intervene in Maysan at the request of the Iraqi government.

"The transfer of security was based on an assessment of the Iraqi security forces to manage the security situation and democracy in the province. That assessment does not change because of this incident," Gell said.

The soldiers, from the Queen's Royal Lancers, were on a routine patrol in a Scimitar armoured vehicle when they were hit by the blast.

The previous worst month for British forces in Iraq was in January 2005, when hostile ground fire brought down a transport plane, killing 10 soldiers. (Additional reporting by Tim Castle in London)

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