Fifteen people including six children died in a battle between Sri
Lankan security forces and suicide bombers who blew themselves up in the
latest fallout from the Easter attacks, police said Saturday.
Three
men set off explosives that killed themselves, three women and six
children inside what was believed to a jihadist hideout near the eastern
town of Kalmunai on Friday night.
‘Three other men, also believed to
be suicide bombers, were found dead outside the house,’ police added in
a statement. The three outside were shot dead by security forces,
police officials added.
Security forces tried to storm the house and a one-hour long gun battle ensued before the explosions, a military official said.
A
civilian was also killed in the crossfire during the night-time raid
near the predominantly Muslim town, with hundreds of families later
fleeing their homes.
Police and troops have stepped up raids after
the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the suicide attacks
on three churches and three luxury hotels, which killed least 253 people
and injured 500.
Kalmunai is in the same region as the home town of
the jihadist Zahran Hashim who founded the group accused of staging the
attacks.
The operation followed a tip-off that people linked to the attacks were in the town, 370 kilometers east of the capital.
Video on state television showed explosives, a generator, a drone and a large quantity of batteries inside the house.
The
clashes came hours after security forces raided a nearby location where
they believe Hashim and the other bombers recorded a video pledge of
allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before carrying
out the attacks.
Police said they found an IS flag and uniforms
similar to those worn by the eight fighters for the video. IS released
the video two days after the attacks.
Authorities named Hashim’s
group, National Thowheeth Jama’ath, as the perpetrators of the attack,
but announced Friday he had been killed in the bombing of the Shangri-La
hotel in Colombo.
The government is on the defensive over its
failure to heed a foreign intelligence warning that NTJ was planning
suicide bombings on churches.
Police chief Pujith Jayasundara became
the second top official to resign over the blunders Friday, after top
defence ministry official Hemasiri Fernando also stepped down.
Sri
Lanka’s Catholic leader, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the archbishop of
Colombo, has said he felt ‘betrayed’ by the government’s failure to act
on the warnings.
Prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe apologised on Friday.
‘We
take collective responsibility and apologise to our fellow citizens for
our failure to protect victims of these tragic events,’ the PM wrote on
Twitter.
Amidst fears of new attacks, the Roman Catholic church has
suspended all public services across the country until security is
guaranteed by the government, with the archbishop appealing to Catholics
to stay home and say private prayers.
Security has been stepped up at churches and mosques across the South Asian nation.
Some
groups were expected to hold public vigils in Colombo and Negombo,
where St Sebastian’s Church suffered some of the worst casualties in the
bombings.
The military have poured troops onto the streets to back
up police as they search for suspects using newly granted powers under a
state of emergency.
At least 94 people are in custody, including a
man believed to be the father of two of the bombers. Authorities warned
the hunt would continue.
‘We now have info that there are about 140
people in Sri Lanka linked to the Islamic State. We can and we will
eradicate all of them very soon,’ president Maithripala Sirisena said
Friday, announcing new legislation on extremist groups.
Dozens of
foreigners died in the attacks and the government has said it expects
the number of overseas tourists to fall by 30 percent this year, at a
cost of $1.5 billion in revenues.
Finance minister Mangala
Samaraweera said the island - which depends on tourism as a cornerstone
of its economy - could take up to two years to fully recover.
The US
state department on Friday escalated its travel warning for Sri Lanka
and ordered the departure of all school-age family members of US
government employees.
Other nations including Israel, Australia and Britain have already warned against visiting Sri Lanka.
