Sri Lankan soldiers are in a gun battle with suspected militants and elsewhere found a large cache of bomb materials as they hunt for survivors of the terrorist ring behind the Easter Sunday bombings.
Soldiers exchanged gunfire after attempting to raid a building in Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province, in the coastal town of Sammanthurai, 200 miles from the capital, Colombo.
Security forces also found a significant weapons stash, including materials for bombs, small toy drones and an Islamic State group flag. Local media reported police believed the flag was the one shown in a propaganda video of the bombers swearing allegiance to the leader of Islamic State – Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The clash came as the country remained on high alert after the attacks that killed more than 250, and thousands of extra security forces had been drafted onto the streets.
Sri Lankan authorities also said the extremist preacher suspected of masterminding and leading the bombings died in the blast at the Shangri La hotel, where British victims died.
Mohamed Zahran, the leader of the local jihadi group National Thawheed Jamath, known for his incendiary speeches on social media,was one of the suicide bombers who carried out the attacks on three hotels and three churches, the police said on an official Twitter account.
Global News 
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