(COLOMBO, Sri Lanka) — A military spokesman says soldiers have exchanged gunfire with suspects after attempting to raid a building in Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province as part of the ongoing investigation into the Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks.
Brigadier Sumith Atapattu said a gunbattle was underway in the coastal town of Sammanthurai, 325 kilometers (200 miles) from the capital, Colombo.
Officials say local militants with ties to the Islamic State group conducted a series of suicide bombings on Easter Sunday at churches and luxury hotels in and around Colombo and in the distant seaside village of Batticaloa. The health ministry says about 250 people were killed.
Sri Lanka has remained on edge as authorities have pursued suspects with possible access to explosives.
