An intense war has emerged after police raided Islamist hideout leading to a fierce overnight gun battle on the east coast of Sri Lanka.
The shootout between troops and suspected Islamist militants erupted on Friday evening in Sainthamaruthu in Ampara, to the south of the town of Batticaloa, site of one of the Easter Sunday blasts at three churches and four luxury hotels.
Fifteen people, including six children, died during the raid as three cornered suicide bombers blew themselves up and others were shot dead, police said Saturday.
security forces raided a nearby location where they believe Islamist radicals recorded a video pledge to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before carrying out the deadly Easter bombings.
Police said they found an IS flag and uniforms similar to those worn by the eight fighters for the video before they launched Sunday’s attacks against three luxury hotels and three churches, killing 253.
“We have found the backdrop the group used to record their video,” the police said in an earlier statement on Friday night.
The Islamic State group had released the video two days after the attack.
Police showed the clothing and the flag on national television, as well as some 150 sticks of dynamite and about 100,000 ball bearings seized from the house.
Security forces armed with emergency powers have stepped up search operations for Islamic extremists responsible for the bombings.