Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
15 DEAD AS MILITANTS BLOW THEMSELVES UP
Six kids in bomb factory death toll
FIFTEEN people including children have been killed in a fierce gun battle as security forces hunt down Islamic State terrorists behind the Sri Lanka bombings.
The carnage took place as police and soldiers swooped on a safe house where explosives were being stored for more horrific attacks.
Three suicide bombers died in the raid along with three women and six children as they triggered their devices.
CHARRED
Three others were also killed in gunfire at the house, a secret bomb factory set up by Easter Sunday massacre leader Zahran Hashim.
Charred remains of the terrorists– one cradling a weapon – were shown on state television as 10,000 troops continued their huge security operation across the island.
The lair in the coastal city of Sainthamaruthu was close to Hashim’s home town in the east of Sri Lanka. A military spokesman later said a large cache of explosives had been stored in the house.
A generator, a drone, and batteries were also visible from images taken inside the IS hideout.
In a second raid nearby, police found 150 sticks of blasting gelatin, 100,000 metal balls for suicide vests, as well as a van and clothing used by the Easter bombers, who killed 253 people last weekend in co-ordinated blasts across three churches and four hotels – mostly near the capital Colombo.
Around 600 panic-stricken people fled the area around the safe house and took shelter in a school as the raid unfolded on Friday. The terror cell using it was made up of members of the National Thowheed Jama’at, who have been blamed for the Easter massacre. IS has claimed responsibility, with 140 suspects said to be at large in Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile in Negombo – where 106 men, women and children died at the Catholic St Sebastian church – photos of victims were posted outside their homes. Soldiers stood guard at the church as forensic officers continued their painstaking work inside.
FEARS
Catholic masses were cancelled today over fears of further attacks. Around 76 people have been held so far, including foreigners from Syria and Egypt.
Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Ranjith said he has seen a leaked security document warning of more attacks.
He said the Church had not been informed. “It came as a thunderbolt,” he added.
The US State Department has ordered American government employees on the island to evacuate their children. The island has 10,000 British residents among its population of 21.4million.