Bodies of 15 found after gun battle on Sri Lanka's eastern coast

The bodies of 15 people, including six children, were discovered at the site of a fierce overnight gun battle on the east coast of Sri Lanka, a military spokesman said on Saturday, six days after a rash of suicide bomber attacks that killed more than 250 people.

The gun battle between troops and suspected Islamist militants erupted on Friday evening in Sainthamaruthu in Ampara, to the south of the town of Batticaloa, site of one of the Easter Sunday blasts at luxury hotels and churches.

The police and military had earlier said four gunmen and a civilian had been killed in the shootout. The 15 were found in the morning during clearance operations.

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Earlier,Sri Lankan security forces exchanged fire with suspected Islamic State-affiliated militants and killed at least four of them in the east of the country, police and the military said.

Gunmen opened fire on troops when they attempted to storm a house in the town of Kalmunai, military spokesman Smith Atapattu said.

"In our retaliatory fire, two gunmen were killed," he said adding that a civilian caught in the crossfire was also killed.

Police later said clearing operations on Saturday showed a total of four suspected suicide bombers had died during the overnight confrontation.

"We found four bodies of suspected suicide bombers," the police statement said, also confirming one civilian was killed in the crossfire, while three others escaped with injuries.

The joint operation between the police and the army was carried out following a tip-off that those responsible for the Easter suicide bombings were holed up in a built-up area of Kalmunai, 370 kilometreseast of the capital.

There were no casualties among the security forces, the police said.

The clashes came hours after the security forces raided the location where they believe Islamist radicals recorded a video pledge to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before carrying out the deadly Easter bombings.

Police said they found an IS flag and uniforms similar to those worn by the eight fighters for the video before they launched Sunday's attacks against three luxury hotels and three churches, killing 253.

"We have found the backdrop the group used to record their video," the police said in an earlier statement on Friday night.

The Islamic State group had released the video two days after the attack.

Police showed the clothing and the flag on national television, as well as some 150 sticks of dynamite and about 100,000 ball bearings seized from the house.

Security forces armed with emergency powers have stepped up search operations for Islamic extremists responsible for the bombings.

(With inputs from Reuters)