SRI LANKA: 15 bodies found after overnight battle between security forces and suspects

Six days after the killing of 253 people on Easter Sunday, 15 bodies, including that of six children, have been discovered at the hideout of suspects responsible for spearheading the bombing.

Aljazeera gathered that the suspects engaged in a fierce overnight gun battle with Sri Lankan forces on the east coast of Sri Lanka.

A police spokesman on Saturday said three suspected suicide bombers were among the 15 dead in the shoot-out, adding that three men set off explosives, which killed three women and six children.

Read also: Sri Lanka PM says he is unaware of intelligence warning on attacks

Military spokesman Sumith Atapattu in a statement said:

“Troops retaliated and raided the safe house where a large cache of explosives had been stored.”

Meanwhile, Police have arrested at least 76 people they believe have links with the bombings, including foreigners from Syria and Egypt.

They also said on Friday that 140 people in connection with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS), which claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings, were being tracked down.

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